Four Seasons
by Ai Angel
Summary: "The old Aoi is gone. The new Aoi doesn't know what to do." The Winter Moon. 80OC "Every single thin' I touch could die." The Spring Stars. ?OC "What if Emiko is not Emiko!" The Summer Wind. 18OC "I was never needed... ever." The Autumn Haze. 6996
1. Chapter 1

REWRITTEN! I didn't like the original first chapter so this is the rewritten version. Please enjoy.

* * *

Chapter 1

"Oi, are you sure, kora?" Colonello looked through piercing blue eyes at his companion, friend, rival, whatever it was.

"Of course I am." Reborn said in his usual haughty tone, pulling down the fedora which was resting on his black hair to cover his large unblinking eyes. "I've been keeping a close eye on her ever since Ryuuki discovered the ring." His tiny pudgy hands moved along the rim of his hat, looking like a thirty year old in a baby cosplay, a very good cosplay but terrible acting skills, "They're all coming together. With Eri already here then I just need to wait for Laurie to arrive."

"Gathering them already?" Colonello folded his arms, considering every move Reborn had made so far. This girl that he was bringing to Japan was barely involved in the Mafia; she barely knew how to fight. Perhaps bringing her early was a good thing but who would train her? Would she even be willing?

"It's needed." Reborn said simply, "The Seasons need to be gathered, Colonello. They're crucial for Tsuna's family." He cleared his throat, unnecessarily but dramatically, "Vongola hasn't seen any Season guardians since Primo's time. And since the rings have finally chosen their bearers after all these years we cannot allow these girls end up with the same fate Primo's Seasons met."

* * *

Airports, airplanes and the like were never really on the list of her top ten favourite things. The air in the airplanes smelt just _weird_, the toilets never failed to get her running, the chance of sitting next to a fat senile old lady was very high and therefore the chance of space was very low. Airports were bustling and squishy and she hated how she had to get there an obscene number of hours before the actual flight.

Well, maybe _this _plane trip was okay. Only okay, just a little bit. The airport had a few less people than usual but still rather busy. Her bladder had yet to call upon her so the fearsome toilet awaiting her down the aisle was not a problem. There was no person occupying the seat next to her so she was able to prop her bare feet and toned calves onto the seat beside her. She made sure to cover her legs with the thin blanket provided, she guessed passers-by wouldn't like to see her calloused soles, blistered skin and blue-brown-black bruised toenails.

She leaned her head against the flat hard wall beside her. Lucky her. She got a window seat. All sarcasm intended. Or not really sarcasm. Just short of sarcasm, it didn't contain the necessary tone or feeling that sarcasm required. Something more like a numbing iciness, the type that is placed on a person's ear just before they get a piercing.

Burgundy hair, a colour confusingly stuck between red and brown, tilting slightly more to the red colour schemes, twirled around her fingers, curly going to frizzy from the nap she had just taken. Her hands, systematically and almost automatically, fretted over the crazy tresses, binding the long hair into a tight French braid. Layered hair never really worked well with normal braids after all. It all just went… out and pokey. If there were even such a word.

Thick black framed glasses were grabbed from the windowsill that they were precariously balancing on. The crystal blue oasis, otherwise known as her eyes that pointed obviously at her slightly American heritage, looked through the powerless glasses. No magnification, the lens useless.

Her skin looked light, stuck at a pale tan. At least all her hard work was not wasted. SPF 80 sunscreen and everything. Swimming with an umbrella made her look like an idiot but hey, it worked. All of it just to look brilliant for that one moment on stage. To look like she was flying for that _one _temps levé, that _lone_ grand jeté, that _sole_ pas de chat, that _single _sissone. Tan may make someone look skinnier but white made them look feathery.

"_Passengers please return to your seats. We shall commence landing in…"_

The speaker continued before repeating the message back in Chinese and Japanese. A breathy sigh left her lips, wondering why, why, why… She could've chosen to live with her Aunt in Manhattan, her cousins in San Francisco, Uncle down in Sydney or even her Aunt on her father's side in Beijing. But no… she chose none of these. They were all wonderful places, full of opportunities, amazing schools, set in a bustling metropolitan.

No. She didn't want _any _of that. She was stubborn, firm, whatever… She'd made up her mind after staring out the antiseptic smelling hospital room, light filtering through UV protected windows with warm rays and undeniable _life_. On the bed side desk an envelope, her name written in neat compact Japanese. At that moment, it had been _years_, eight to be exact, since she had seen her name printed in Kanji, the characters reminding her of something, something clicking like a light switch.

Perhaps that light switch was broken because she had no idea what was tugging, yearning, begging in her when she told her disappointed relatives that she was not going to another city in America, to Australia or China. All of them sent back distressed emails, unable to leave their busy lives in the big cities or bothering to put pen to paper rather than finger to key, wondering why she had chosen _that_ place instead.

The small, unheard of country town. Only about two or three middle schools were located in the town and with that only so many opportunities to allow her to prosper. Or so they complained. She didn't know if they were truly worried about her well being or if they just wanted to get on her good side so that when the time came to distributing the inheritance, a bit more would go to them. Unlikely but possible.

Now, her seat belt buckled against the tiny rolls of fat at her belly that should not have been there, in her opinion at least. That terrible feeling of the plane diving straight for the ground, a feeling she swear was unnecessary for passengers to feel if the pilot would just _gently_ land, which none of them ever did by the way.

It was slightly ironic that she had chosen Namimori as her place of residence, a close friend of her father's as her host. Not a blood relative and most certainly not in a place that was similar to any of those she had been offered. The fact she had chosen a place that was embedded in her blood as a place she should use to restart her life was almost laughable, a slip of irony.

Maybe, only a very slight slim possibility, she was searching for a home. It was possible, a light numbing cold chance but still possible in its own way. She didn't really know, all of it a jumble of letters, numbers and colours in her conscious mind. Well, if it that were the case then what better place to start than the place she was born?

* * *

Tsuyoshi placed down the phone before writing down the details of her taxi. She had landed safely and on time and was now currently in a taxi on her way to Takesushi. He had the cab number and how long until she would arrive.

His son was currently at baseball practice meaning he would arrive home at about the time she was supposed to arrive. Tsuyoshi made a mental note to text his son about her seeing as every time he was with Takeshi the concept slipped his mind. Not that his son even used his phone. Like once every three months would be a very accurate estimate of how much Takeshi ever even looked at his phone, much less used it.

So different from the girl that had just called, from what he remembered 8 months ago, her mobile was her lifeline, figuratively of course. It was almost glued to her person, except for when she was dancing or in class, other than that without fail she will have her phone within reach.

Now, time to go look for that extra futon hidden somewhere in the house. How long had it been since that thing had been whipped out? Good thing he had time. Shop was closed today so it was time to go futon-hunting!

* * *

"Good work, Yamamoto!"

"Keep it up!"

"You were awesome!"

Words of encouragement and congratulations rushed through Takeshi's ears as he bid farewell to all his teammates. The sun was setting and there was a cool breath of wind, something rare for the hot summers of Namimori. For some reason he had a certain skip in his step, something just felt _good _about today. It wasn't like aced his math test, on the contrary he failed it, it wasn't like he had hit an extra homerun, he'd actually hit a few less than usual, and it wasn't like the kid had thought up any more fun games, the kid was missing today for some reason.

Oh well. It was probably just his instincts acting up, again. They were telling him something good was going happen. He had no clue what it could possibly be but he knew that something was _bound _to happen. His instincts never failed. Except on tests. But hey! They worked with math sometimes, right?

When he finally reached home, the sushi restaurant that was closed for the day, he felt the strong urge to shower. He body was sweating, tip to toe, and a shower sounded like the best thing that came to him that day. Well, next to the thought of Hayato being overly fussy about exam marks. Which he had voiced out of course and a timely Ryohei had shouted was "EXTREMELY" true.

Dropped off his bags by his desk and made a dash for his bathroom, the thought of a nice cool shower too enticing to walk to. He opened the closed wooden door without a second thought, not the least observant to realise that his bathroom door was not usually closed.

Within 5 seconds of opening the door he turned three different shades of red. First light pink, then a reddish-pink and then full out crimson. Standing in front of him, long hair dripping at the ends, was a bare foreign girl with cool blue eyes. Luckily, there was a white towel, undoubtedly the same white towel he used every day, held in her hand, covering up anything _important _from view.

Staring straight into the cold frozen over azure mirrors he tried to avert her eyes. Just looking into them was like staring into a reflection, a cold numb reflection. He noticed her porcelain skin, close to ivory but tinted with the slightest shade of tan, something hinting at an Asian decent mixed with her American one. Then he noticed the curled wavy locks dripping with shower water, the red-brown almost reaching her hips. From behind the towel he noticed the edge of slightly discoloured skin. A scar? A burn mark? He couldn't make it out from the distance they had but he had enough humility not to scrutinise.

"Get out." She said looking away, her eyes finding themselves lost in bathroom tiles. Within the dry frostbitten voice it was almost like embarrassment was buried somewhere, a hot spring in the middle of a harsh winter.

"S-Sorry!" Takeshi could barely make out before he turned away, stepping out of the steamy bathroom and slamming the door behind him. He leaned back against the door, thinking _what in the world just happened_.

"Aoi-chan, I'm so sorry I forgot that the towel in Takeshi's bathroom is actually-" Tsuyoshi never got to finish his sentence. Standing in front of the bathroom of where the said girl was showering was his sweating, beet red son. "Oh, Takeshi…"

"Dad, there's someone…" Takeshi could barely string the sentence together, his chest pumping about twenty miles an hour, something of the sort.

"Yeah," Tsuyoshi said rubbing the back of his neck, kind of nervous yet somewhat nonchalant, "that's Koizumi Aoi-chan… She'd coming to live with us after her parents and boyfriend died a few months ago… her dad was a great friend of mine." Tsuyoshi pulled out a grin, slightly watered down, slightly pained, "Must've slipped my mind." Tsuyoshi looked away, Takeshi taking note of the towel that was limp in his father's hands, "You've… er… met?"

"Yeah… kind of ." Like father, like son, he rubbed the back of his neck, feeling the heat emanating off of it slowly dying down, excruciatingly slow, his laugh lithely escaping his lips.

"I'm not deaf, you know." The door silently slipped open, Aoi stood in the most simple attire, hair a state between wet and dry, now styled into something like loose ringlets, the white towel now draped around her damp shoulders, "Thanks for explaining for me, Uncle Tsuyoshi." She tucked a wet lock behind her ear, "I'd rather you tell Takeshi than if I did."

"You know who I am…?" Takeshi said pointing to himself, clearly confused, clueless.

"Of course I do." Aoi said simply, her voice nimble graceful but still stuck, lost and wandering, infinitesimally cold with a touch of lost, "You were always forgetful like that."

* * *

"Reborn! I can't just go to Yamamoto's house! That's rude!" Tsuna scolded the baby who was dragging him by the ear down to his friend's residence.

"Of course you can. And you will, Dame-Tsuna." Reborn smirked, his hand mercilessly dragging Tsuna along, his legs in stilts, another cosplay he had thought of.

"And I thought you weren't going to cause any trouble today!" Tsuna complained, missing the peacefulness of the school day, no Reborn meant no danger and no embarrassment.

"What kind of tutor would I be if I left you uneventful for one day?" Reborn teased, pinching the ear of his tortured student even hard, his hand fit with puppy fat were anything but soft, instead they were bone hard and incredibly cruel. "Oh, look we're here."

Reborn didn't give Tsuna one moment to breathe a single complaint before dragging him into the closed shop, seemingly empty, peaceful and completely silent.

"Oi, Yamamoto." Reborn called out to as Takeshi came down the stairs leading up to residential area of Takesushi.

"Ah, Tsuna, kid! What are you doing here?" Takeshi asked as he approached the pair, not at all fazed by their sudden appearance.

"I heard you have a visitor. As the boss of the family Tsuna is here to greet any new additions." Reborn replied for Tsuna for the boy was currently wincing in pain, in so much pain that he couldn't even protest, as much as he wanted to.

"Oh, you're playing that game again?" Takeshi queried, laughing lightly, "Are you talking about Aoi?"

"Oi, have you found that futon yet, Takeshi?" Aoi came down the same stairs, hand placed precariously on the wall to make sure she didn't accidentally slip, "Who are they?"

"That's my friend Tsuna from school." Takeshi said pointing to the wincing boy, leaning down to the baby on stilts who was still not letting go of the poor ear in between his fingers.

"And what is happening right now isn't weird at all." Aoi said looking away, her voice dripping with numb sarcasm, "Just hurry up." She looked back sending them all a frostbitten look, "I need _somewhere_ to sleep."

"We'll be going then, right Tsuna? As a boss he just wanted to welcome his new family member." Reborn said slyly, finally letting go of the pitiful ear that was in his grasp, allowing Tsuna's ear to breathe and writhe in even more pain.

"What?" Aoi sent them a sceptical look, eyes glaring through short lashes.

"You'll find out. Let's go, Tsuna." Reborn said before walking out, stilts tapping against the floor loudly.

"Ah, sorry for the intrusion. See you at school tomorrow, Yamamoto." Tsuna said nervously before following his dangerous tutor out the door, his big brown eyes not leaving the almond shaped warm blue eyes of the red headed girl. If warm blue even existed, he caught the tinge of loneliness, confusion and iciness all trapped in the blue mirrors known as her eyes. Trickling, her eyes reminded him of a frozen mountain with a small trickling spring.

* * *

Aoi couldn't help but cuddle up to the extra pillow on her futon, exhausted, tired, whatever anyone wished to call it. She was just glad they finally found the bed they had been hunting for. Through the corner of her cobalt eyes she spied Takeshi's futon about a foot away.

_Too far…_

She barely recognised the thought that registered in her mind, only noticing how restless she felt right now. As tired and sleepy she felt, she couldn't shake off the feeling of insomnia. Not really insomnia though. A loneliness that caused insomnia she supposed…

Takeshi came out the shower, finally receiving the shower he had been longing for since he arrived home, towel drying his hair, using the towel she was supposed to have used. Well, that was until Tsuyoshi came too late and she had already used his towel to soak up all the water that dotted her body.

"Sorry about the thing in the shower." Aoi muttered, only soft because she tired and voice was slowly fading away on her, "I should've locked."

"N-No, I'm sorry!" Takeshi said, waving his hands around in denial.

"Idiot." Aoi said blatantly before sitting up, still hugging the pillow to her chest. She glanced at him, noticing how he didn't seem to be uncomfortable under her gaze, unlike everyone else. She remembered the nurses that gossiped and the patients that steered away.

He sat by the bed that was a good foot away from her's, ready to snuggle into the futon's good warmth. That was before a less than ivory hand shot out and grasped the light blue material of his shirt. He looked back to her, seeing the same lost trickling gaze, except it was staring right into his hazel ones, not looking away in the slightest.

"Aoi…?" Takeshi asked, tilting his head to the side, wondering what was going on.

"_I might as well say it_." Aoi muttered under her breath in English, an undeniable American accent laced with her words. She turned back into Japanese, coordinating between the two languages she knew so well, "Since we're going to be spending so much time together you should at least know that I get insomnia when I sleep alone."

"Insomnia?" Takeshi questioned, clearly unknowing of what the word meant, clearly creating a slightly annoyed hand that was holding onto his shirt to tighten, only slightly.

"It means I can't sleep." Aoi said simply, "You can refuse to but…" Aoi slipped back into her English tongue, "_How do I word this?_" She turned back into Japanese, "…I know you don't really remember me and it's probably really weird but can you sleep close to me?"

It took a few moments for the words to register in Takeshi's mind but right as they did, his face broke out into a grin, "Sure."

"Are you…?" Aoi asked raising an eye brow, "I mean I'm…"

"I don't know why but it seems like this isn't the first time I've met you." Takeshi said, already dragging his futon closer to his, the edges of their mattresses now pressed together.

_That's because we have, stupid_.

Takeshi laid down on his futon, now infinitely closer than it was just a few moments ago. Aoi leaned back down, their backs almost touching and she could feel the slow and steady rhythm of his back, calming, peaceful, tranquil.

"Better?" Takeshi asked and Aoi could almost see imagine the smile plastered onto his face.

"I guess. Thanks." Aoi said, already drifting to sleep, lulling away by the calming rhythm pulsating right by her.

* * *

"Dame-Tsuna," Reborn insulted as Tsuna was getting changed. Reborn was perched in his usual sleeping spot, in his usual pyjamas, "that Aoi, she's going to become part of your family."

"What! You can't drag Aoi-san into this!" Tsuna shouted at the baby but he was already fast asleep. That snot bubble was going up and down as usual; his eyes were wide open, typical.

_He can't do that to Aoi-san!_

Well, then again it was Reborn. He could whatever whenever he wanted. But he can't just go randomly dragging people in. Aoi seemed like the kind of person that didn't need this kind of thing. Actually, nobody needed this kind of thing but she seemed worse off that the average Joe. From what he could see from her eyes, something told him that something happened to her and something small was trying to fight back. That small trickling spring that was trying to thaw an entire mountain. Something like that. Just one pondered on Tsuna's mind as he attempted to fall asleep…

_Just who is Aoi-san?

* * *

_

Rewritten and I hope you like it! I like it a lot better than the previous one but it's still up for improvement… tell me what you think okay?

Well, see you next chappie! I think this current chappy 1 fits in with the next chappies a lot better!

Review please!


	2. Chapter 2

Ok. I was supposed to update two of my other stories before this one but you know what? Screw it. I want to update this one so I will! Haha! This story is my current pride and joy (don't know for how long that will last) but I will shut up now! So on with the story!

* * *

Chapter 2

It was hot.

And sunny.

Well, at least for 8:00am in the morning. Taking a nap on the Namimori Middle School roof this early in the morning seemed like a good idea. The students had barely even gotten into the school and the sun was already up. Hibari Kyoya was not pleased with the sun's sudden choice in rising. He had arrived two hours earlier when it was nice and dark. Kyoya irritably opened his eyes slowly, not being able to tolerate the brightness.

Two brown plaits.

Two red bows.

Those were the first things Kyoya saw as he opened his eyes. From his position his eyes glided up to a sleeping female face. A slow steady breathing was obvious just by her facial features. She had strangely porcelain skin that contrasted with her dark coloured hair.

Kyoya twitched slightly; her hair-style was almost outside the Namimori Middle School uniform code. It was mostly short – a few centimetres above her shoulders, except for the bangs that hanged at the sides of her face. They were obscenely long, reaching almost her elbows. She had plaited them and tied them with red ribbons, luckily escaping the prefect's fury.

Each blue-green eye opened slowly, probably because of the sunlight as well. She sighed, seeing him awake as well and smiled at him. Something most people wouldn't dare do. Something she did on a regular basis.

"Kyoya, did you have a good nap?" She said softly, rubbing her eyes, "After all, it is _my _lap you're napping on. I can't even feel my legs anymore."

Kyoya growled from somewhere deep in his throat, throwing an arm over his eyes, "Deal with it."

"Can't we do this in the reception room?" She asked, no, more like pleaded, the boy resting his head in her lap, "It'll be _a lot _cooler and maybe I'll be able to feel my legs _then_."

"Stop complaining, Emiko." Kyoya replied to her plead, "You're lucky I don't_ bite you to death_."

"Lucky? If you try to bite me to death I'll just jump off the building," Emiko laughed, his threat barely fazing her anymore, "again."

"Do you want me to get angry?" Kyoya asked rhetorically, obviously not wanting an answer. He changed position, turning to lay the side of his head on her lap.

"I'm surprised you're asking. Usually you'll just _bite me to death_ before asking and really _bite me to death_." Emiko said cheekily, not afraid of upsetting the prefect.

"I really will bite you to death this time, if you want me to _so badly_." Kyoya provoked, biting this girl to death would be refreshing.

"Stop teasing me. I was black and blue for two weeks after you did that last time! Lal-oba-san was so angry because I wouldn't tell her why there was a flower-shaped bruise on my hip." Emiko said pouting, "It's not like I ever really want to have you _attack_ me because you feel like it. I'm kind of annoyed at you though."

Kyoya didn't respond. Feigning sleep seemed to be his specialty.

"I know you're faking, Kyoya!" Emiko reprimanded, a smile on her face, "I can't believe you didn't tell me though. I can't believe you hid the fact Aoi-chan was coming to Nami-Middle!"

* * *

The teacher wrote her name up on the board, in large Kanji. '_Koizumi Aoi'_ it read. Aoi internally cursed when she saw the slightly messy handwriting the teacher used but ignored it. The teacher's hand writing was huge but she tried to ignore. Why? Why did her biggest pet peeve _have _to be handwriting?

"Ok class, this is Koizumi Aoi-san, she's new." The teacher bellowed. She didn't like the teacher already. "Introduce yourself."

She _really _didn't like this teacher, "I'm fine if you just call me 'Koizumi'."

"Is that all?" The teacher asked, obviously taken aback by her unfriendly introduction.

"I would rather not give my whole biography." Aoi said casually, looking away.

"O-Ok…" The teacher stumbled, "Well, take your seat, Koizumi-san. Umm, back there, next to Kurokawa. Kurokawa raise your hand."

A girl with long dark hair raised her hand, an empty seat present right beside her. Aoi sighed, eyes trying to hide behind her thickly framed glasses. People were staring at her. Was it her red hair? Her blue eyes? Or perhaps it was the fact she was Japanese and looked like _this_?

The bell rang for break, time passing by slowly for Aoi. It wasn't just the students. Her teacher had been staring at her all through class. It was annoying but she had ignored it. All she had to do was focus on her work. It was all she had to do.

"Hey, Aoi!"

Aoi turned her head, Takeshi smiling at her. She had almost forgotten. She had briefly caught his eye when she was being introduced to the class but she had forgotten he was in her class.

"Takeshi." She acknowledged. Just the one word seemed to catch the ears of almost all the girls in the classroom. She was familiarwith Takeshi. They were on a first name basis, after all. Almost _no one _was like that with him.

"So, how was class?" Takeshi asked cheerfully, he was walking towards her desk.

"Boring." Aoi sighed, she could feel the stares burning into her back, "Aren't your other friends in this class as well? You don't have to go out of your way to talk to me."

"What are you talking about?" Takeshi laughed. Aoi almost wanted to bang her head on the table. It was so familiar. That reaction. It reminded her of someone. "You're my friend."

"I-" Aoi began, slightly shocked at his response.

"_KOIZUMI AOI-CHAN_!"

Aoi stood up and turned her head to the source of the voice. That voice. It couldn't possibly be _her_. The door smashed open, a heaving and breathless girl standing in the now open doorway. The hairstyle and stature were unmistakable. Whispers exploded.

"_Isn't she…?"_

"…_Hibari Kyoya's…"_

"…_don't tell me…"_

"_Why now?"_

"_What is she doing here…?"_

"_Shouldn't she be up with the head prefect…?"_

"_Why the new girl…?"_

"…_the head prefect's…"_

"_I feel sorry for the girl…"_

"_What would they want…?"_

"…_shut up! She'll hear!"_

"Koizumi… Aoi-chan…" She heaved, almost sounding possessed.

"You're…" Aoi breathed, the information barely being digested in her mind.

In less than a second Aoi was tackled with a breathtaking, bone crushing (literally) hug. The girl hugging her was exceptionally short. At least for someone her age. She looked weird standing next to a taller than average girl like Aoi. The dark chestnut hair that was piled on top of her head seemed unfamiliar to Aoi's eyes but the scent of vanilla was more than just familiar. Aoi wrapped her arms around the shorter girl, easily recognising her.

"Aoi-chan! I can't believe you! Why didn't you tell me you were coming?" She shouted into Aoi's chest, jumping up and down all the while.

"I'm not the only one." Aoi said to her, "You didn't tell me you were coming to Japan, Emiko."

"It's not my fault, Aoi-chan! I swear! Lal-oba-san actually _threw _me into a plane and got me here at light speed! Then Reborn-oji-sama-" Emiko explained quickly, looking up to Aoi.

"What was that, Emi?"

Emiko turned very, excruciatingly so, slowly to see that said baby sitting on Takeshi's shoulder. The taller boy had apparently lent his shoulder to the baby a while ago.

"N-Nothing, Oji-sama!" Emiko covered up, still hugging Aoi tightly.

Reborn smiled at the panicking girl, she kind of reminded him of Tsuna but she was _capable_, at least in his eyes. "You seem to be good friends with Aoi, Emi."

"Of course!" Emiko smiled, tightening her hug on Aoi, "We're sisters!" saying the word 'sisters' in English, "We went to school together in America!"

"Emiko is my best friend." Aoi said simply, shocking most of the class.

"K-Koizumi-san, you know Hanabara-san?" Tsuna said trembling, entering the conversation. He was shocked by Aoi saying something so affectionate.

"Ah! Tsuna-kun! I didn't see you there!" Emiko exclaimed before pouting at the younger boy, "You're still calling me 'Hanabara-san'! Just call me 'Emiko'!"

"B-But Hibari-san will bite me to death if I do that!" Tsuna said, more like stammered, fearing what the head prefect would do if he in fact did address Emiko by her first name.

"By the way, Emiko…" Aoi cut in, effectively saving Tsuna from a blundering embarrassment.

"Yeah?" Emiko said smiling.

"Why is everyone _gossiping _about you?" Aoi said coolly.

"_H-H-Hanabara-san!_" A stuttering voice stammered over the intercom, "_H-H-Hibari-san n-needs to see y-you n-now! H-He's going to b-b-b-eat me up if you d-don't hurry! H-Hanabara-san!_"

The speaker shut off and the rest of the class stared at the short girl hugging Aoi.

Emiko smiled nervously and let go of her friend, "I kind of wanted to keep that a secret but I guess I couldn't…" Emiko searched her mind, trying to find a way to explain her situation to her best friend, "Um… Well, you see, I kind of work for the head prefect of the disciplinary prefect, Hibari Kyoya…" _More like lend my lap for his napping… _ She added mentally, "and he's kind of scary…"

"Why?" Aoi asked, "Emiko isn't the type of girl to let a boy run her life." An idea came to Aoi, "Is he your lover?"

"L-L-L-L-Lover?" Emiko gasped, "Please stop saying things like that, Aoi-chan! It's not like that at all! Reborn-oji-sama told me to get to know Kyoya and I kind of got attached!" Emiko tried to explain, "And please stop saying 'lover'! Can't you just say 'boyfriend' or 'girlfriend'? It sounds so _sexual _when you say 'lover'!"

Almost all of the class gasped at the conversation. It was rare for Emiko to be in the room but she had never come into the room talking about _these _kinds of topics! What's more is the fact that the _cold_ almost _frozen _new girl was participating.

"It's not sexual. It just means you _love_ the person." Aoi said in a straightforward manner.

"_H-Hanabara-san! H-Hibari-san is getting-!_" The same person said on the speaker before he grunted in a large amount of pain. A loud unpleasant noise resounded from the speaker, probably from the microphone being switched around.

"_Emiko. Report to the reception room, now._" It was Kyoya. His voice was firm and slightly irked. Emiko felt uncomfortable with all the eyes looking at her now, "_Or,_ _I will_ _bite you death_."

Emiko sighed as the speaker switched off, the stares only increasing. "I shouldn't have snuck off when he was napping. And I had finally convinced him to move off of the roof. Ugh! He isn't going to listen to be for weeks now." _Either that or he'll give me another bruise… _Emiko thought to herself, "Kyoya is so mean, right Aoi-chan?" Emiko laughed, before giving Aoi one last hug.

Aoi gave Emiko a quick kiss on the cheek, something both seemed to be used to. When Emiko let go and was about to leave, Aoi ghosted a hand over the back of Emiko's shirt. A thin, almost thread-like, needle appeared in her hand, "You still carry around needles."

"Ah!" Emiko said as she spun around, "You took number 28!"

Aoi handed Emiko back the needle and she flawlessly slipped the needle back into her clothing, "See you, Aoi-chan!"

Emiko waved before quickly rushing off; keeping Hibari Kyoya waiting too long was nota good idea.

"_Did you see that…?"_

"_Why her?"_

"_First Yamamoto now Hanabara…"_

"…_isn't she a little…"_

"_What's so special about her…?"_

"…_Hanabara and Koizumi…"_

"_She doesn't even look that good…"_

"…_best friends…?"_

"_What's with…?"_

Aoi sighed, who knew being with Emiko would create this kind of commotion. Gossiping was always part of school life but this was a little too much. Her old school was never this bad. What kind of reputation had Emiko gathered in the few months she had been here?

"That surprised me, Aoi!" Takeshi suddenly said, "Who knew you would know Hanabara!"

"She's…" Aoi mumbled, searching her mind for the correct word. Her mind stumbled upon the one word that summed her up, one word that was the exact opposite of Aoi, "warm."

Reborn chuckled from his spot on Takeshi's shoulder, "Now that Emi isn't here to shout at me…" Reborn smiled at Aoi, big eyes looking strangely dangerous, "would you like to join Tsuna's _family_, Aoi?"

"Family?" Aoi inquired, raising an eye brow at the baby, "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Oh! It's a game that the kid plays with us! It's very fun, Aoi!" Takeshi smiled at her; still not realising Reborn's games were not actually games.

"Stop it, Reborn! I already told you not to involve Aoi-san!" Tsuna scolded, before realising he had addressed her by her first name, earning him a cold look, "I-I'm sorry, Koizumi-san!"

"I don't mind." Aoi said, looking away, knowing it was her eyes that were scaring him, "You remind me of Emiko."

"Of course. They're both scatterbrains." Reborn added, insulting both without skipping a beat.

The bell rang, indicating the break was over, before anyone could say anything further, Reborn disappeared off somewhere before the teacher could enter the room. Tsuna sighed, relieved that his crazy tutor had left before anymore of his ideas came to him.

"…_over-confident…"_

"…_ugly…"_

"…_clingy…"_

"…_annoying…"_

"…_suck up…"_

"…_faker…"_

"…_bitch…"_

She was familiar with Takeshi, so what? Then that word suddenly came up.

"…_slut."_

It all made sense now.

* * *

Emiko took a quick breath before dodging another well aimed attack by Kyoya. Her legs were tired now and she didn't know how many times she had seen the silver tonfa aimed at her. She never should have snuck out. Especially when he was napping. He was irritated now and he wasn't about to let her off the hook.

"I'm sorry, Kyoya!" Emiko apologised quickly before taking a hit on her arm. That was going to bruise.

"What were you doing investigating a herbivore?" Kyoya said in a low voice, dangerously low. He was mad.

"Aoi-chan isn't a herbivore!" Emiko said as she ducked from the tonfa, crouching down on the floor, "Aoi-chan is the one that taught me how to roll!"As she said that Emiko quickly rolled, her legs moving quickly to get her out of the dangerous position, "It's very useful you know!"

Emiko stood up quickly, making fast footwork to back away from the fuming prefect. She gasped as her legs backed up on the couch. Dammit! Hadn't Lal always told her to watch out for her surroundings? The painful training sessions to work on it burned in her memory. Now, she was backed up against the arm of a couch. Lal would scold her if she saw this.

"I'll bite you to death for what you did." Kyoya said, advancing slowly towards her. With each step, Emiko could feel her arm inching towards her clothes; a hidden needle may come in handy.

As he got within a meter she grasped two needles from within her skirt. Before she could take the needles out, Kyoya was already in her personal space and his weight sent her tumbling onto the couch. Very ungracefully, too. Her body was lying flat on the couch, Kyoya sitting on her hips. Now she was definitely trapped, but that was the least of her worries.

What kind of position was this?

"K-Kyoya! This is embarrassing! Please get off me!" Emiko exclaimed, cheeks aflame with red.

"This is your punishment for running off when I was napping." Kyoya said, his voice deep.

His slate eyes looked into her teal ones. It was almost like he could see her rapidly beating heart with just those eyes. He grasped her shoulders ensuring she didn't try to grab any of her needles. Not that she would try to hurt him, outside of self-defence that is.

"I'll really _bite _you to death." Kyoya said, his smirk in place.

Her heart started to beat faster; she could almost hear it throbbing in her ears. Could he hear it too? This couldn't be real. She wouldn't believe this was real. One of the most violent guys out there was doing this to her. She told herself a million times to snap out of it but something kept her there, unmoving within his gaze.

Kyoya dived his head down to her neck, his mouth grazing the soft white skin. With that, he kept true to his word. His mouth wrapped itself around the flesh before teeth found themselves buried in her neck. She gasped and her flushed face only increased in crimson. It hurt. It didn't break the skin but his teeth against her sensitive skin _hurt_. It burned across her skin but she couldn't move. She wanted to so badly to thrash and push this person off, but she couldn't. An invisible force was keeping her completely still.

_Louder._

_Louder._

_Louder._

Her heartbeat was only getting louder. It was banging against her chest, almost as if it wanted to burst out of the restraints she had carefully put on it. No, it couldn't. She wouldn't let it. She wouldn't let herself.

_Faster._

_Faster._

_Faster._

No! She couldn't control it. Her heart was not doing what she wanted it to do. It was reaching out to this man. This _boy_ that was holding her down with some sort of enchantment. Why? Why him? Why now? What was he doing to her?

"_Love will create the greatest pain you have ever experienced."_

The words came to her mind. Lal's words. Emiko gripped the fabric on the couch, her knuckles turning white. Then the pain that had scorched over her was replaced by something soft and gentle.

Was he _kissing _her?

It felt like not a moment had passed. It was like they were stuck in their own timeless dimension, a fairytale land. Some people said they could hear fireworks when something like this happened, she heard a bird. A bird singing. It could've been Hibird singing but it wasn't the Nami-Middle anthem. This wasn't love. She had convinced herself. Kyoya was her precious person, not her lover. She tried so hard to make sure that fantasy didn't become a reality.

After what seemed to be an eternity, Kyoya let go, resting his cheek on her neck. His arms left her shoulders and wrapped around her back intricately. This was new. He never touched her like this. At most he slept on her lap. Hugging her, that was a totally different thing. His fingers were playing with her short hair, tickling her neck.

"Don't run off like that again or I'll do something even worse." Kyoya warned, his tone was dangerous, "I'm going to sleep now."

Emiko took a deep breath and smiled at him. Her heart slowed and slowed, getting quieter and quieter. Yes, this was it. This was normal. He was her precious person. He was more than her friend, but it didn't go any further. He was like her guardian. That was all. He was nothing more.

"Jeez. Don't scare me like that." Emiko sighed, placing her smaller arms precariously around his head, "And I was planning to go shopping later today…"

The image of Aoi flipped to her mind. Long red hair constricted by a braid and thickly framed glasses hiding pristine blue eyes. Emiko smiled at the plan she had in mind. Hair freely displayed and eyes open to the world. She really didneed to go shopping but keeping the head prefect satisfied was her top priority at the point in time.

* * *

"_How did you get to know Yamamoto-kun?"_

"_Why is it you?"_

"_Don't get cocky!"_

"_Aren't you just another one of his fans?"_

The angry voices shouted at Aoi from all angles. Takeshi was in baseball practice so she decided to go home first. When did she start calling it home? Well, it did seemed like the ideal time to _ambush _her. At least, it did to girls that had crushes the size of the moon.

"I don't know what you're talking about." Aoi repeated for about the third time since they had cornered her, "Aren't you people overreacting?"

"Stop lying!" One of them shouted, "You call each other by your first names!"

"How is it any of your business?" Aoi cut in sharply, sending them all a cold glare, making some of them freeze on the spot, "He calls Sawada by his first name, correct?"

"T-There! You give Yamamoto-kun _special_ treatment! You call almost everyone by last name and only him by his first name!" Another one of them managed to shout out.

"Aren't you just jealous?" Aoi remarked, catching all the girls off guard, "I _live _with Takeshi. His dad is also_ '_Yamamoto'. You don't even know anything and you make false accusations."

"…_She lives with Yamamoto!"_

"_You're getting a little too cocky!"_

"_Don't think you can act like that?"_

The girls continued on, angry at her responses and the way she could retort so quickly. Her blue eyes then caught something in the bright sky. _Rain _clouds. They were in the direction of home. They hadn't started pelting rain yet, but soon they would. She had to get home soon. She _really _needed to get home soon. She couldn't get caught in the rain. No, she definitely couldn't! She didn't want Tsuyoshi and Takeshi to know yet.

"Move out of the way. I need to get home." Aoi said, her voice starting to sound a little panicky.

"We're not done yet!" A girl shouted at her, fury running through her eyes.

"I don't care. There is nothing to be '_done with'_ in the first place." Aoi retorted, trying to get out of the crowd of girls, to no avail.

"What are you trying to do! We told you that you can't leave!" Several of the girls responded angrily.

"You guys will be scolded by Hibari-senpai for crowding." A separate voice added in. It was different from the rest, confident and self-righteous, all in one sentence.

"_Isn't that Tsukika…?"_

"_What does the dance club head what with us…?"_

"_Tachibana Tsukika, isn't she usually a loner?"_

"_Is she trying to get us into trouble?"_

"Isn't it a bit wrong to gang up on someone like that? I thought you guys were a bit more humble. Guess not." The supposed head of the dance club insulted simply.

With the distraction in place, Aoi ran off. The girls could barely catch up as she ran as fast as she could. She was never very athletic but she needed to get home. She just needed to get home before the rain started pouring.

* * *

Takeshi was more than disappointed when the club had to finish early. The coach was scared because of the incoming lightning he had seen in the distance. It was quite near his house. He hoped Aoi got home safely. It looked like the rain was right about where their home was.

When did it become _their _home? Yesterday? Today?

His eyes took a quick glance at the school gate and saw Aoi running off. It wasn't very fast but he could tell she was trying her best to run. Why was she still here? Didn't she leave first? Then he saw the look in her eyes. Her eyes were like mirrors. They reflected exactly who she was and what she was feeling. There was a crack, a crack in the perfectly glazed over mirrors. She almost looked _scared_. Aoi was scared of something.

He quickly rushed into the changing room, shouting apologies to his coach and fellow members. He literally threw himself into his pile of clothes, rushing to get changed. Something was wrong with Aoi. They hadn't known each other for long but she was his friend. And there was something about her that seemed familiar. Something that invited him. Something that told him to not leave her alone.

Takeshi took off as soon as he gathered his stuff, running off at light-speed. He needed to catch up to her. He shouted as many apologies as he could as he rushed. His teammates didn't seem to mind so much. After all it was Takeshi. He usually stayed behind to clean up when the rest needed to rush off.

As Takeshi neared his house, the cloud looked like it was about to spill all of its contents onto him. Still no Aoi in sight.

* * *

The door to Takesushi slammed closed as Aoi rushed in. She breathed hard and coughed. She hated running. She was lucky that Tsuyoshi was off to the market, he wasn't home and there were no customers.

Then she heard it. The sound of pelting rain outside. She had barely made it. She had barely escaped from the rain pouring outside. Just the sound of it made her knees tremble. She leaned against the door and slid down, clutching her knees to her chest. She buried her face in her knees, barely able to control the fear bubbling inside her.

* * *

The rain outside the shop was heavy and loud. Emiko cursed her luck. She was simply walking home when she saw the _perfect _clip in the window of shop. She had rushed in and now she was stuck in it after purchasing the item. The rain pelted on the sidewalk making loud noises. Perhaps she should just run the rest of the way home.

She sighed. She had just escaped Kyoya and his nap. He had let her go home, but now, she couldn't even go home. If she came back with another ruined uniform Lal _just _mightkill her. That or make her go through another flexibility training session. She wouldn't be able to walk the next day. How did Aoi do it? Aoi could do the splits and more. But Emiko was as flexible as a piece of wood, as Lal had put it.

The glass door of the shop was cool to touch, probably the effect of the rain. The shop owner walked up to Emiko, seeing the forlorn look on her face. Emiko touched the door remembering the day it happened. It was pouring like this. And Emiko could do nothing, like she was stuck behind a layer of glass.

* * *

His feet made splashing noises as he ran through the rain. A few blocks away from his house. The rain came down heavily. Takeshi opened the door to Takesushi as fast as he could, hoping and praying Aoi was at home.

That wasn't what he meant. That wasn't what he wanted. No. No! He never imagined Aoi would be crouched against the door, trembling.

"Aoi…?"

* * *

And we're done with chapter 2. Wow, extremely long. I never really planned for the chapters to be this long. Not sure if the upcoming ones will be this long though. Hope you liked it! By the way, his is set between the Kokuyo-Land Arc and the Varia Arc.

And for this part I'm following the anime so you'll have the little random daily life type of scenes. Just for you guys to get used to the characters because I don't want to dive straight into the fighting stuff.

Hope you liked it!

And! Before I leave you to review (please?) I shall tell you the meanings of Aoi's and Emiko's names.

Aoi = Blue/Green Colours

Koizumi = Little Spring (like the geyser kind)

Emiko = Smiling Child

Hanabara = (if broken up into 'Hana' and 'Bara') Flower Rose.

Ok! Thank you! :D

Ai Angel

Beta-read by omgpink


	3. Chapter 3

Hey! I am so in love with this story that I shall update! Haha! Enjoy!

By the way! This chappy is dedicated to the wonderful omgpink, because she gives me lots of inspiration and her reviews are superb. You should check out her KyoyaOC fic called **Pirouettes on Cloud Nine**. It is actually amazing. And then… there's one fic I'm kind of co-writing with her called **The Player and his Bunny**. TakeshiOC. That one is actually really good too. So there are a few recommended reads. On with the story!

* * *

Chapter 3

"Aoi…?"

The said girl practically jumped at the sound of his voice, turning to face the one and only Yamamoto Takeshi. She recognised it so easily. She didn't expect him to be home so early. She didn't want him to see her in this state. This sorry, pitiful state. _Shit_.

"Oh, Takeshi?" Aoi acknowledged. Her voice was trembling, her knees were trembling, her arms were trembling, her _eyes _were trembling. Everything about her was shaking so badly it looked as if she was about to break apart. About to fall into a million unrecognisable pieces.

"A-Are you alright?" Takeshi asked, worry filling his eyes. He hadn't seen someone so scared in years. Not since what had happened to his mother.

"I-I'm fine. It's o-okay." Aoi tried to act calm. Collected. _Cool_. The usual Aoi. She could barely control herself; her knees were almost banging into each other. The rain soaked man standing in front of her was looking at her with so much concern. But all she could do was stop herself from breaking down in front of him.

Takeshi tried to force a smile onto his face, only making it come up with uneasiness, "You don't look so good."

He tried to reach a hand forward, to comfort her but she only backed away. Every inch of him was covered in water, dripping on the floor with a soft calming sound. The supposed tranquil sound was only serving to make her even more terrified.

"I-I'm sorry but please don't c-come near me like that. P-Please." She was clutching herself so hard. What could make her so fearful?

"Okay." Takeshi had finally put the pieces together. He was idiot but when it came to his friends he could understand almost anything, "You go up first. I'll take a shower."

"Thank you." Aoi muttered before running up the stairs to their room. He could see how much she was forcing herself not to fall apart. She didn't want him to worry. She didn't want him to get distracted by her. Aoi was strangely caring.

* * *

"Jeez, Kyoya! You know, you could have told me it was going to rain before telling me to go home." Hanabara Emiko was hardly pleased. Even with the umbrella over her head she was upset that the prefect had forgottento mention there were rain clouds in the direction of her home.

Kyoya ignored her lecture. She was always like this. He had actually bothered to put an umbrella over her and save her from getting completely soaked and she was angry. Why did he even try? This girl was hardly worth it. Oh, that's right. She was one of the only people worth biting to death.

"Kyoya, are you listening?" Emiko reprimanded, the said boy in fact did have a rather deadpanned, aloof look on his face, "But, thanks. I don't know what Lal-oba-san would have done if I ruined my school uniform _again_." Emiko looked up into the dark coloured umbrella, Kyoya had been holding it over them for the last fifteen minutes.

"Do you need me to carry the umbrella? Your arm must be tired."

"You're too short." Short, quick and very insulting answer.

"I'm not that short!" Emiko exclaimed. Her height was an extremelysensitive topic, "It's not like you're the tallest guy in Namimori!"

"My height amongst other students is irrelevant. You're shorter than me. Twenty centimetres shorter than me." Kyoya retorted, referring to his infinitely superior height.

"Okay! I get it!" Emiko scoffed, turning her head away from him.

A smirk fell upon Kyoya's handsome features. Stubborn, slightly short-tempered, quite cheerful and damn fun to bite to death. Hanabara Emiko was one of the only people out there that could satisfy him. The only others being that baby Reborn and Rokudo Mukuro. Balancing the umbrella in his other hand he grabbed her limp palm. That caused a satisfactory reaction. She gasped, cheeks coming to a lovely shade of scarlet.

"K-Kyoya!" Emiko could barely understand this man, "What's with you? You're acting strange! You didn't use to touch me like this before!"

Using his hand he pulled her closer before leaning down, lips poised beside her ear, "Didn't I tell you during the fight with Rokudo Mukuro? You are mine. I can do with you as I please."

Emiko recalled the fight in Kokuyo Land. It was only a little while ago. Bandages had been wrapped around her arms for a week. Lal hadn't been too pleased. Mukuro had used dirty tricks against her and hurt Kyoya badly. During that last fight, Kyoya had spoken to her, softly and strangely in a gentle voice. His body was beaten and battered but he tried to protect her. She never expected it and at that point in time she was well and truly shocked.

"_You are mine, Emiko."_

"_No other man can do what they like with my possessions. I'll bite to death any that even try." _

"_I'll protect you as you're mine."_

Was that what caused the change in him? Was that why he was suddenly touching her? Was this like those fairytales where the prince would protect his princess?

But Kyoya was no prince.

And she was no princess.

Not anymore.

With their entwined hands, Emiko could feel the calluses on his palm. His hands were rough and hardened, with years of fighting. She always knew someone like him wouldn't have smooth hands. She herself didn't have smooth hands. Scars decorated her hands like fireworks in the sky. It felt weird though. Two hands, coarse and tough, held together felt soft. Milky and soft.

When was the last time someone held her hand? Was it back with _pap__à_ **(1) **and _mamma _**(2)**? Or was it with Ojii-sama **(3)**? Back then, their hands were nice. Now, two worn out hands were together and it felt even better.

She rubbed her thumb against his knuckles, feeling a fresh scratch.

"Have you been biting people to death when I haven't been looking?"

* * *

She had to pull herself together. Just the sound of the rain was making her want to curl into a ball. She wasn't even facing a window. She was holding onto the edge of the desk in their room, back facing the rain smashing against the window. The sound was unnaturally loud to her ears. It almost sounded like it was pounding.

Louder and louder.

Heavier and heavier.

She could barely stand. Takeshi was going to come out of the shower soon. She couldn't let him see her like this. Why was she trying to hide it though? They were living together. Both him and Tsuyoshi would eventually find out, right? Was she going to hide it from them forever?

The door of the bathroom opened, and Takeshi stepped out. A towel was strung around his neck and water dripped off the ends of his hair. His eyes found Aoi easily. Her back was facing the only window in their room and her knuckles were turning white from clutching the wooden edge of their desk so tightly.

Aoi turned her head slowly to him, knowing he was now looking at her in such a state. She tried to force a less frightened expression onto her face but it only made her look even more petrified. She didn't look so scared looking at him anymore but she was still shaking.

"_Listen, Takeshi. If you ever see one of your friends upset__,__ you should hold them. Being alone when you're upset is something nobody wants."_

Without skipping a beat Takeshi was behind her, arms wrapping around her shoulders and neck. When was the last time someone had given her a hug like this? Emiko's hugs felt so different from Takeshi's. She didn't flinch as much as she expected she would. His presence was calming. The feeling of his arms around her gave her the warmth she had longed for.

"Takeshi, what are you doing?" Aoi asked, her voice sounding slightly more Aoi-like. Only slightly.

"You don't like it when people touch you, right?" Takeshi said, his voice sounding normal now, his usual cheer slowly coming back. He felt Aoi nod her head, "But you always look so lonely, like you want someone to come closer to you. Do you hate this?"

"I… I don't hate it." Aoi admitted. How could she say that she hated the warmth that bubbled in her chest the moment he embraced her?

"You're scared of rain, aren't you?"

"I'm not." Aoi said simply, her voice was starting to tremble once again, "It's not just rain."

Her unstable hands found their way up to his arms that were around her. She grasped them with unusual gentleness. Takeshi was honestly surprised by her actions. So far, the only people he'd seen her be gentle with was Emiko. Perhaps a tiny percentage of tenderness was to his dad. And an even smaller percentage to Takeshi himself. He was even more shocked when she rested her head on his arms.

She looked so pained.

_So scared. _

Had the rain broken the barrier she had placed? Had the rain managed to invade the ice she used to protect her heart? The frozen mirrors that were her eyes seemed to be bursting. Cracked and hurt. The ice wasn't melting. It was just being penetrated. It was almost like the rain was darting through the ice she had carefully built over her heart.

"I told you yesterday, correct? My parents and my lover died." Aoi tightened her grip on him, "I… I don't know if I should tell you. I haven't even told Emiko. You don't even remember me." Her tone was bitter and distasteful, "And then I couldn't help it. I didn't want to get near anyone. I didn't want to get hurt. Yet I didn't want to be alone! Everything became darker. Colder. But I couldn't break away from it!"

Her breath hitched in her throat. What had just happened? Did she just spill her feelings to him?

"Maa. Maa. You aren't alone, right?" Takeshi smiled at her even though she couldn't see it, "You have Hanabara-senpai, Tsuna, my old man and…" Takeshi paused a short moment. Was he sure he wanted to say it? "and… me."

"Then…"

What was she thinking? Was it the rain? Was it him? What was making her speak words she didn't even speak to Emiko? Why could he make her feel so _warm_? Feel like she wasn't alone? She hadn't felt like this since before the incident.

"Then can you break me away from this nightmare?"

When Aoi felt him gasp slightly in bewilderment she pushed herself away from him. She didn't mean to say it. She didn't want to say it. Ever since this whole ordeal she didn't want anyone to listen to it. People had their own lives. Hers was nothing special. Everyone had something sad in their lives. She was no exception. Koizumi Aoi was not one to make people worry about her.

"Sorry. I said something weird. Please, forget about what I told you."

It was when she forced herself out of his hold that he noticed. She wasn't shaking anymore. The frozen layer over her eyes wasn't repairing itself but it looked like she wasn't so terrified anymore. Had the advice he received so long ago helped her? Just looking at her though… She looked so confused, unsure… She was suffering.

Why did his arms want to so badly reach out to her? Why did he want to help her so much? What was this force that urged him to take care of her? There was no reason for him to be like this. Yamamoto Takeshi was a nice guy. Not _this _nice though. He had only met her yesterday.

Why did he feel like he knew her his whole life?

Then as if on instinct he raced to her, enveloping her once again in his arms. Her long burgundy locks had been freed from their restraints, cascading freely down her back. One of his hands entangled itself in the soft slightly curly hair on her head, pushing her head closer to him. The other found its way around her waist, pulling her into him.

She fit perfectly into his frame. Aoi was a tall girl. Takeshi was a tall boy. And it was almost like they were moulded to fit together. He barely noticed but she had stripped herself of her glasses. Now that he had pressed her against himself he couldn't feel the thick frames.

"T-Takeshi? W-Why?"

"Who knows?" Takeshi said care freely, he himself didn't even know, "But I can't help it! I just want to help you."

"You're… an idiot." Aoi muttered, letting herself fall into the embrace. She easily slipped into her English tongue, "_A real idiot_."

"I get that a lot!" Takeshi chuckled and Aoi could feel his chest vibrate with their close proximity.

Aoi reached her still weak arms to grasp the back of his shirt, effectively returning his embrace, "_Grazie_, Takeshi. Thank you."

"You're welcome!" Perhaps Takeshi's cheer was contagious, "If you want you can wait for me when I have baseball practice. Then we can walk home together."

Aoi pulled back slightly. The meaning was there but the utter randomness of Yamamoto Takeshi only made the conversation weird. She sent him a slightly deadpanned look, as if trying to say 'what do you think?' Her ice blue eyes glared at him. All fear disappeared.

"I…" Aoi thought for a short while before deciding to say it, "I don't want to get a tan though."

Takeshi laughed at her simple reply. She really didn't seem like the type to not want to tan. But now that he noticed, her skin was rather fair. Did she avoid the sun like the plague? He couldn't help but laugh even more at the thought.

"It's not funny. It's a habit. Back when I was dancing in America my teacher didn't let us tan." Aoi said coolly, not flustered or embarrassed in any way like most people would be.

"Maa. Maa. I was just wondering since you don't seem to want to go home by yourself." Takeshi commented, "Huh? You dance? For how long?"

"Ballet, for nine years. Five times a week. Eleven hours a week, including solo training and excluding rehearsals." Aoi answered, it was almost like she'd said it almost a million times, "I really love it. I must have gotten really inflexible. And fat." **(4)**

Wow. She was passionate. "You must be really good."

"I'm not. I actually really suck. My _arabesque _and extensions were really low. I was the fattest in my ballet class. I was so turned in. My _pirouettes_ were always so unstable. I only started going competition this year…" It was almost as if she could go on forever.

"Don't be so hard on yourself. You're really passionate, I can tell. It's like dance to you is like baseball to me." Takeshi said positively. Leave it to him to say something like this. He hadn't met someone this committed. Who put so much into something, "And you're not fat."

"You don't know how many times I've heard that, Takeshi. I would say 'thank you' but you can't really say that until you actually see me dance though. Then you'll see." She was still so negative, "I eat a lot, too. My teacher always told me to stop eating chips, chocolate and ice cream…" She paused for a moment, "…and cake."

"You exercised a lot though! You don't need to control your diet." Takeshi smiled, his optimism was still not fazing her.

"I _don't _control my diet. That was the problem." Aoi said blatantly. It was only then that Aoi felt it. She wasn't scared anymore. Her heart was beating one hundred miles an hour. She wasn't shaking. The sound of rain wasn't throbbing in her ears. "Takeshi, is it still raining?"

"Yeah. It's pelting out there." Takeshi said, not even looking back. With just those words he felt her hands clench around his shirt. The sound of the rain was starting to invade her once more as she became aware. Why couldn't she hear it before? Why could he? The rain always was so loud and clear.

"It's weird. For just a few moments it was like the rain stopped. Even with Emiko, she could never make it go away." Aoi sighed, holding Takeshi even closer, "Thank you."

"You're welcome!"

"About what you said earlier… Can I wait for you? I would… like to." Aoi said. She was finding her confidence again.

"Sure! If you don't mind waiting for a while." Takeshi said sheepishly. It was a bit awkward. He had neverbeen this intimate with a girl. It had finally just hit him.

"Takeshi… I don't know if I can tell you everything but can you wait for me?" Aoi asked seriously. Her voice was unsure. Did she think he would reject her?

"Of course." Takeshi replied, his grip on her tightening.

"This is a lot to ask… I'm sorry, Takeshi."

"No problem, Aoi."

"I… I'm a very selfish person, aren't I?" Aoi said, the words were negative but her voice slightly optimistic, "But I want to ask you for one more favour." She took a deep breath, "Can you stay with me until the rain stops? If you leave I don't know what'll happen."

Takeshi took one step backward before sitting down on the chair available in his room, taking Aoi with him. This was something absolutely new to him and he had no clue what he was doing. This girl seemed so familiar. So incredibly familiar. As embarrassing as it should have been, to him it wasn't. It seemed that whatever she asked of him, he was more than happy to comply.

Aoi was a little more than surprised when she found herself being pulled down by Takeshi. Less than a second later she found herself placed on Takeshi's lap. She thought she would be flustered, annoyed, angry… something along those lines. She wasn't though… she was…

What was she feeling? Happy? Grateful? Whatever it was, it felt _right_.

* * *

"Thanks, Kyoya. Even if it is all your fault that I was caught in the rain, having Lal-oba-chan make me stretch is worse." Emiko smiled as Kyoya stopped just outside the cover of her condominium.

"Are you asking for me to get angry?" Kyoya asked, his voice dangerously low.

"No." Emiko said playfully, "When Kyoya gets angry it's very scary. He gets very perverted." Without a word, Kyoya swung his tonfa, which Emiko ducked from, "It's true though!"

She laughed at the irritated look on the boy's face. She almost doubled over in laughter when she caught her reflection in the water at their feet. Straight brown hair. Blue-green eyes. Her own features were staring back at her. Lies wound around her, suffocating her, just by looking at her reflection in the water.

Why?

Why?

Why?

Why did long yellow ringlets of hair appear over her brown hair in her mind's reflection? Why did her mind create amber eyes over her blue-green ones? Why did it seem like another girl was staring back at her?

Was she sick of the lies? Was she finally sick of all the lies around her? Was she sick of the lies she was telling? Was she sick of living a lie? Was she sick of looking at a different person every time she walked past a mirror?

Emiko squatted on the wet floor, her reflection showing who she was now. She let out a sad smile, the water replicating it perfectly.

"Hey, Kyoya…" Emiko said softly, a rare thing, "Can we stay like this forever?" Kyoya looked at the girl squatting at his feet, she looked so distant, "What am I asking? I'm being so weird."

"As long as you're mine, you will never leave my side. Just like now." Kyoya said unexpectedly. She wasn't expecting that. She was so happy, yet so sad, because of his words.

"Even if I'm not who you think I am?" Emiko's smile only saddened. She brushed her hand against the water, distorting her reflection, "What if I turned out to be someone no one could recognise? Someone _you _couldn't recognise?"

"What nonsense are you spouting?" Kyoya cut in sharply, he crouched down to face her eye-to-eye, "Emiko will always be Emiko." His hand landed gently on her head, coarse fingers running through her hair, "Even if you're not the Emiko I see now, the Emiko in my memories exists." His hand trailed down from her hair to touch her face, "Therefore, Emiko is still Emiko. And Hanabara Emiko is mine.

"Y-Yeah, you're right. I was being stupid." Emiko said, his words meant a lot. So why didn't she look happier? Why wasn't she happy? "Thanks, Kyoya. I'd better get going."

With that, Emiko released herself from his touch and went inside the building. She used all her might to keep her smile on until she reached her room. She tried her best to not cry her heart out as she finally collapsed on her bed. She hugged one of her pillows with all her might, trying to keep all of her emotions in check, all her tears. She could barely breathe. She was concentrating so hard as to not let a single tear escape. She was so glad Lal was not home yet. She vaguely remembered Lal telling her Colonello was in town. That must've been the reason.

She couldn't take it anymore.

_Gokudera-kun…_

_Yamamoto-kun…_

_Tsuna-kun…_

_Aoi-chan…_

…

_Kyoya…_

They only knew Hanabara Emiko.

She yelled with all her might, crying out from the bottom of her heart.

"_What if Emiko is not Emiko!"

* * *

_

Strange.

Whenever Tsuyoshi came back, Yamamoto would greet him cheerfully. Where was that boy? He needed help. He was dripping head to toe; the storm had taken him by surprise. Luckily, the ingredients were safe. As he placed the fresh products on the counter he looked around. Almost waiting for his son to burst out of nowhere.

He sighed and decided to take a look upstairs. Maybe he was doing his homework…? Fat chance but it was worth a try.

Now _this _was strange.

When Tsuyoshi had slid open the door to his son's room he was definitely not expecting the scene in front of him. He couldn't say he would have neverthought they would get intimate. It was just that it seemed a bit too early. It kind of reminded him of _them_ back then. They were always together even though they claimed their relationship was strictly professional. Aoi's body sitting on Takeshi's, both sleeping soundly. Holding each other like they would be separated if they let go.

It made him remember those good old times.

Alice-Belle Vera Anderson. Koizumi Senri. Those two said they weren't romantically involved. They were too prideful, too confident, too _cool_ to admit it. Just like the girl sitting on his son's lap. If only… If only he had taken that chance. When they had the biggest fight in their entire relationship. Maybe then Alice-Belle wouldn't have stopped at sitting in his lap. Maybe she would've fallen for him. Not Senri.

No. He couldn't be thinking that now. If Senri and Alice didn't fall in love then the wonderful red-head in front of him wouldn't be there. And his cheerful son wouldn't be there either. They wouldn't have the relationship they had.

Rei. Yamamoto Rei. He smiled bitterly at the thought. He could never return the love she had given him. He could never repay her for the joy she gave him. Never repay her for the pain she took away. Never repay her for the son he had. All he could give her was pain. But she looked so happy.

Even until her last day with him.

* * *

"Aoi-chan!"

And then, the said girl was tackled. It was just before first period and Aoi was seated at her desk. Her face didn't show any signs of shock when Emiko had wrapped her arms tightly around her. This was quite normal. For them at least.

"Hey, Emiko."

"I have a present for you!" Emiko exclaimed.

"Present? Why?"

"Because…" Emiko said slowly, stressing every syllable.

With those words she sliced the hair tie holding Aoi's plait together with a needle hidden in her watch and snatched her glasses away, crushing them in her hand.

"Don't!" Even with such panicked words, her voice was calm. Aoi slapped her hands over her eyes hiding their blueness.

"But Aoi-chan is so pretty! You shouldn't hide it!" Emiko tried to pry Aoi's hands away but to no avail, "You didn't mind in America!"

"Back in America people died their hair on a regular basis."

"Like Tia who died her hair _pink_ and Mary wore purple contacts! It's okay!"

"No, it's not. Japan is… No one in Japan looks like this. Even Emiko looks ordinary."

"It doesn't matter. Aoi-chan is really cute. You shouldn't hide it. Right, Tsuna-kun? Gokudera-kun? Yamamoto-kun?" Emiko sent the three boys a smile that said 'you better say something nice'.

"Eh? Er…" Tsuna stumbled. He didn't want Kyoko to think he liked Aoi _that _way but Emiko was very scary when she wanted to be, "She looks nicer without her glasses… I think."

"Che… If the Tenth thinks so, then she's not ugly." Hayato muttered, if his boss thought so then he didn't mind.

"Yeah! Aoi is super cute!" Takeshi naivety was finally kicking in; he didn't seem to notice the many girls glaring at Aoi in annoyance.

"You see! You _are _cute!" Emiko said cheerfully, "Even Gokudera-kun thinks so!"

"Oi, don't use me as an 'even'!" Hayato growled. However, he was thoroughly ignored.

"I…"

Emiko ran her fingers through Aoi's tresses before twisting it and pulling it up, securing it with a large black clip. The ends of her hair sprouted at the top of her head and fell around her face.

"Aoi-chan, whether you like it or not… Alice-san, your mother, was American, that's where you got your eyes. Your father was Japanese, born with hair like yours. So it's not a surprise you look like that." Emiko sighed, she pried her friend's hands away from her face, blue eyes staring back in confusion. Emiko smiled before beginning to walk out of the room, class was about to start and a certain prefect was about to get mad if she didn't arrive. She stopped at the doorway, looking back at the class, "It can't be helped that you're pretty either. Alice-san was a model."

Wait. What?

* * *

There we go. Nice? No? The TakeshixAoi scene was really long because I thought that Takeshi and Aoi didn't get enough love the last chapter. Who liked it? Teehee. Who was expecting Alice to be a model? Anyone guess how Alice and Senri met? Haha. Have fun thinking.

Until next time~ and leave your reviews please!

**(1): **Dad in Italian.

**(2)**: Mum in Italian

**(3)**: Grandfather in Japanese, don't get mixed up with what she called Reborn in chapter 2 because that is Oji-sama which means uncle. Same with Lal, Oba-san means Aunt whilst Obaa-san means grandmother. Forgot to add that in last time.

**(4)**: This is true. I do ballet and the hours and times and years is based off my own training and the thinking. Yes, ballerinas are not allowed to tan and we have to control our eating and constantly think we are fat. But we don't go anorexic. We love eating.

See ya next chappie!

Ai Angel

Beta-read by omgpink


	4. Chapter 4

I'm back! Haha. I really am in love with this story! Please enjoy! I want to follow this through and I want you all to enjoy it because it is my current craze! Don't know how long it will be though! Haha! The scenes are shorter this time; I hope you guys don't mind!

* * *

Chapter 4

Emiko was always the opposite of Aoi. Emiko was always the one that would run around all day long, not a care about her studies. Aoi was always the one to drag her back into the library to study for their test next week. Emiko was always out of control, her emotions running everywhere. Aoi was always there to calm her down, no anger or sadness ever surfacing.

Aoi was what Emiko always wanted to be like. Like a princess. Emiko remembered the days when all she wanted to do was be like that. They were the days she could play with her grandfather. The days she could dress up all day. The days she would have painted finger and toenails. The days when her hair was long, blonde and curly, her eyes a colour between gold and orange – a perfect amber. The days when she was a princess.

Now, sitting here with Hibari Kyoya resting on her lap, she wondered if after all this acting she could return to being who she used to be.

* * *

"Captain! Captain!" The voice was panting and strained, the sound of running loud and clear, "Captain Tachibana!"

Short black hair and dark eyes turned to face the source. Oh, it was one of the members of her club. "What is it, Momo?"

The younger girl stared up to the shorter captain, "Are there any new members? The rest of us don't know what to do. Our dance isn't going to competition with so little people!"

"I know that already, it's fine. I've already got it handled." She replied smoothly. She returned back to where she was facing. A bulletin board. On a large poster was an advertisement. Large letters spelt out 'Dancers needed! Competition opportunity!', "I've already got permission from the student council president _and _Hibari-senpai. I don't know if it'll work but it's all we can do for now." Momo glanced down at the poster before reaching the bottom, in smaller font was 'See Tachibana Tsukika, class 3-B, if you're interested.'

"Wow! Captain you're fast!" Momo looked in sheer amazement of how swiftly her captain worked.

"I can always ask Ryohei to see if any of his friends want to try out. He seems to have many female friends." Tsukika smirked; she wondered how the _extreme _captain of the boxing club ended up with so many girls at his side.

"But, Captain…" Momo's voice was small and worried, "The competition is in 2 months! How can they learn our dance in such a short time? We also need someone to replace Mizu-senpai! We already signed up for her to do solo but she's injured…"

"Don't worry. There's one girl I've got my eye on. She seems like she'll do." Tsukika tapped a finger to her chin in not-so-deep thought, "Actually, she seems like a much better choice than Mizu. Mizu was always too lazy for my tastes."

"If you're interested in someone then she must be amazing!" Momo exclaimed, Tsukika was never one to be interested in any person's dancing. Tsukika was captain for a reason. Strict and straightforward, she could spot a good dancer a mile away.

"She's in the same class as Ryohei's sister. I'll get him to look out for her." Tsukika had an all-knowing look in her eye, "He's owes me a lot anyway."

* * *

"_Model…!"_

"…_now that I think about it…"_

"_Wasn't there this model that…?"_

"…_Aoi… wasn't that her stage name?"_

"…_she does look a lot like…"_

"_Her eyes are the same!"_

"… _no wonder… she's a mix."_

Ever since Emiko had left the room, Aoi's family tree had been the talk of the class. The boys would ogle at her, not knowing too much about the latest models, the girls glaring in jealousy, they seemed to already know who her mother was.

No one was crowding around her, much to her relief; they were all probably scared of her or something. They were all gossiping to each other, bitching about her. Tsuna was trying to stand off to the side, guys wondering when Dame-Tsuna got to know a model's daughter. Luckily, Hayato was there to tell, more like shout at, them to "leave the Tenth alone!" – his exact words.

Aoi decided to steal a glance in Takeshi's direction; he seemed to already be getting interrogated because the fact they were living together had spread. Would he treat her differently now that he knew one of her secrets? It was then that he turned to her direction he smiled his usual wide grin, his wand waving excitedly at her before he got ambushed by busy askers. He tried to smile at them saying he didn't know only for it get pressurised into a smile of apprehension.

Fed up and annoyed, Aoi slapped her hand on her desk, using it as leverage to stand up, her chair screeching behind her. Her feet made minimal noise as she made her way to Takeshi's desk, her palm making a loud noise as it slammed onto the table top of his desk.

"This is my business. So leave Takeshi, Gokudera and Sawada out of this. If you want to know anything you should ask _me_. They don't know anything about this so what's the point of you all crowding around them? It makes no sense. Do any of you think at all?" Aoi insulted calmly. Her voice was loud and confident, straightforward to all that wanted to steer away.

"Just because you're a models' daughter doesn't mean you get to act over-confident!" A girl shouted at her, annoyed at her attitude.

"I'm not confident because I'm the daughter of a model. I'm confident because I'm a dancer." Aoi said blatantly, her eyes deadpanned.

"Dancer's _are_ confident people." All heads turned to the voice in the doorway. Short hair that barely touched her shoulders and piercing black eyes, Tachibana Tsukika stood in the entrance to the classroom, "You're exactly the girl I thought you were." Tsukika smiled her resolute smile, "Want to join the dance club? We're looking for new recruits."

"I-"

"TSUKIKA!" The loud, over the top voice could be recognised by everyone in the room.

"Ah, Ryohei! I decided to check her out myself." Tsukika then stepped out of the way of a charging bull known as Sasagawa Ryohei.

When he realised he had over shot her by miles he ran back to the class room, not even breaking a sweat, "That's extremely unfair, Tsukika!" he grasped her by the shoulders, shaking her around violently, "I'm a man! I'm supposed to repay my debts but you took it away from me!"

"Ryohei, if you don't stop shaking me right now I will kick you in the head." Tsukika said without wasting a breath, the boxer immediately stopping his actions, "Okay. Now that you are at least somewhat calmer then I will…" Tsukika's eyes trailed back to where Aoi _was_.

The girl had disappeared.

Along with one baseball idiot.

* * *

"Getting fresh air?"

Aoi almost jumped ten feet in the air when she felt a cool can pressed against her cheek, turning to glare at the one male brave enough to try. Takeshi's grin invaded her line of vision along with his brown eyes and dark hair. She turned her head back to where she was previously staring, her butt feeling slightly numb from sitting on the raised side walk.

"It was annoying trying to stay in there." Aoi sighed, accepting the drink that Takeshi was attempting to place in her hand.

"It was getting pretty heated in there." Takeshi admitted, plopping down next to her.

"Sorry about it." Aoi said, staring at the gravel at her feet, "I wanted to keep it a secret."

"Keep what a secret?" Takeshi asked, a clueless look on his face.

Aoi could have slapped herself in the forehead, "My parents. The whole thing about my mum."

"Oh, that? It's okay." Takeshi said his smile becoming a fraction smaller, "So, are you going to accept Tachibana-senpai's offer? It's a pretty big deal if she scouted you. She's the strictest club head in the whole school. Apart from Hibari."

"I'm not ready to dance seriously yet." Aoi said seriously, staring into space. Her eyes looked so forlorn, looking like they weren't sure of anything anymore.

Takeshi looked worriedly at the girl next to him. He thought perhaps she would recover a little after yesterday but she still looked like she didn't know where she was going. His arm stretched to her, his fingers touching her forearm. When she didn't move or make any reaction he slid his arm up, grasping her shoulder. With just the softest of squeezes and the sincerest of smiles he had her leaning her head on his shoulder. She looked down past their knees, counting the differences.

He was bright and cheerful. She was cool, almost dower. His emotions came out at every possible moment but she kept them locked up tight with padlocks frozen over with pain. His smile could be seen almost all the time, only lowering in those few moments. Her smile was rare and almost never there, never wanting to come out of hiding.

Then, why were they together? Why did they seem to attract each other endlessly? She didn't believe that people could get so close in such a short period of time. It was like her mind and her body were moving at different paces, one moving one way the other moving the opposite direction. Somehow, together they pulled her in the direction she was travelling with Takeshi.

"Takeshi…" Aoi murmured, her hands were cool with the can in them and her eyes were lost with the situation in her, "Am I pitiful?"

"W-What?" Takeshi stuttered, her question catching him way off guard.

"There's no other reason for you to be helping me all the time. You just met me. I can't think of any other reason as to why you would want to do this for me." Aoi said almost as if it didn't matter but she was ready to walk away if he told her she was.

"No." Takeshi said simply, the confused look still on his face, "You're not pitiful." He noticed the look he had just had had relocated onto her face, "It almost seems like we've known each other forever. I can't help it. I just want to be near you."

"Have you ever had a girlfriend?" Aoi asked completely out of the blue, giving him a sceptical look.

"Huh?" Takeshi said, taken aback, "No. I've never really liked a girl."

"For a guy that's never had a girlfriend you sure know how to make a girl feel special."

* * *

"What did you say?" Slate eyes glared at blue-green ones.

"I'm saying you are being childish!" Her voice was high and annoyed.

Kyoya had his two tonfa bared, ready to strike the brunette at any second. Three needles were poised between her fingers on her right hand, set to be thrown. Both were ready to take the other down. But they both knew who the winner of this brawl would be.

A needle went flying, almost reaching a pressure point on his arm before it met with the metal of his tonfa. He raced forward, two more needles thrust in his direction. He blocked both of them easily. She was just playing. There was no way she was being serious.

"You're not serious." Kyoya stated, stopping before he could any closer to her.

"Of course I'm not." Emiko huffed, "I don't want to fight. Obviously."

"I do." Kyoya said slowly, his mouth holding each syllable, "So you better get serious or I'll really bite you to death."

Not another word could be uttered between the two of them before Kyoya pinned her to the wall, a tonfa at her shoulders. She really didn't look like she was in the mood for anything. She had arrived to school late, disappeared to go talk to a herbivore and even had the nerve to be reluctant to allow him to sleep on her lap. After he awoke she looked tired and annoyed. Even after _offering _(a big thing for Kyoya) to allow her to use himself as a pillow she merely grunted in response. He had finally popped, throwing her against the nearest wall. With that an argument had ensued.

"What is wrong with you today?" Kyoya growled, his voice was dangerously low.

"Nothing. You're just acting like a child." Emiko said, clearly irritated, "As usual."

Kyoya was always the child of their relationship. He was always wanting more, never knowing how to stop. She never minded. She would always smile, laughing it off. She almost seemed to find it amusing when he acted like that. He would only be like that around her. His maturity would drop several levels and he could never have enough of the care she gave him.

"Something is wrong." He said clearly, his voice couldn't be more precise, "Tell me, Emiko."

Why? Why was he being the mature one now? Why did it seem like she was the one being stupid? She wanted to spill everything to him immediately, emptying her heart. She wanted to tell him of all her lies. Of all the truths she had hidden. Of all the pains she tucked away. But she couldn't. She would never utter a word until the Ring Battles. It was a vow, an oath, a promise. To herself. To her grandfather. To her _parents_.

She knew eventually they would all find out. They would all hate her. Not letting them know anything. Of course they would never forgive her. She wasn't the person they knew all this time.

Her eyes prickled, thinking about how close Kyoya was to her and after Kyoya had said something like he did yesterday he was all the more closer to her heart. Her lies were strangling her and she didn't want them to even touch him. She cared too much. She didn't want him to hate her for her lies. She would rather have him hate for not being as interesting as he thought she was.

"I can't tell you." She whispered, her voice cracking, stumbling in all directions.

Tonfa clattered to the ground, callused hands grasping her face, "Whatever is causing you distress…" He looked her seriously in the eye, "I'll bite it to death."

"And if the person is me?" She could almost feel the water welling in her eyes, ready to spill onto his hands.

He didn't answer. He merely threw her over his shoulder, hearing protests as soon as he did. He then continued to drop her onto the plush couch and before she could get up, he climbed on top of her. His strong arms held her tightly in place, holding her down onto the surface of the sofa.

"No, Kyoya this isn't going to help!" Emiko struggled, trying her best to push him off of her.

"Do you no longer need me?" His voice and how gentle it was startled her enough to make her still. She remembered the time she had said that. The battle with Mukuro. When he was protecting her from the illusionist she shouted it. She shouted as loud as she could, desperation ringing in her voice.

"_Don't protect me anymore, Hibari-kun., no, K-Kyoya. I need you…"_

"I…" Her arms changed their position, finding themselves wrapped around Kyoya, "I still need you. It's because I need you…" Emiko pressed her head against his shoulder, hoping to hide the tears that were around the corner. She knew he hated tears, "I'm not the person you know. If you knew… You'd hate me. I don't want you to hate me because of something like that."

"I don't care." He said smoothly, his grip on her never moving, "Say anything you like. It doesn't matter to me. I wouldn't hate you for such a stupid thing."

He was _such a guy_. She almost smiled at the thought, "If that's your version of stupid then what's your version of serious?"

"If you don't need me anymore."

* * *

They would be swimming. Tomorrow for their sports class they would be swimming. She should be okay, right? They would be supervised in a 1.5-2 metre deep pool. A clean, chlorine filled pool with no chance of any man-eating creatures creeping in. Of course. She didn't to be scared. There was almost no chance of drowning and even if she did someone would _have _to notice. And if some sort of dangerous animal were to try to come into the pool they would be stopped.

Right?

…

Right?

…

Right?

She was stupid to even consider anything to happen. So, why did she just voice her concerns to a laughing Takeshi? The boys had just finished cleaning the pool and the following day all of them would be swimming laps in them. As soon as the boys had finished and the two were walking back to class Aoi had immediately spilled out all of her worries onto the baseball player.

He didn't mean to laugh but the way she said it! She had a serious look in her eye, a voice that was sincerely worried and words that were saying the silliest of things.

"Don't worry! If you drown I'll swim to the bottom to get you out!" Takeshi laughed, her expression only changing to a glare, "And if anything tries to hurt you I'll protect you!"

"Are you really _that _stupid or are you just pretending?" Aoi sighed; looking around to see if any of his fans had caught what Takeshi had just naïvely said.

"Huh?" Takeshi asked, genuine question overcoming his features.

"Forget it. I was just being an idiot." Aoi walked a little faster, suddenly wanting to get back to the classroom quicker than he could.

"Wait!" Takeshi's quick feet outpaced her's, his arm grabbing her's before she could get away, "I wasn't joking."

"What?" Aoi said sharply, her tone telling him she would have let it go if was him just kidding around but now…

"I was serious when I said that." Takeshi stated, his eyes saying he was telling the truth, "It's okay for you to tell me those things."

"What are you talking about?" Aoi muttered, her azure eyes turning away from his hazel ones, "I was being stupid. What kind of idiot thinks up those situations?"

"You can be scared around me, Aoi." Takeshi said, pulling her arm closer to him, making their eyes connect again, "Even if it sounds stupid I'll listen!" His grin then spread across his lips, "I want to see all the sides of Aoi."

"_Stupid idiot_." Aoi said in English, turning her head away, red spreading on her cheeks. Barely noticeable, a small curve appeared on her lips, almost out of his sight, "Thanks Takeshi… You're…" Aoi slid her arm away from Takeshi's grip, not wanting to know what was going to slip out of her mouth if she stayed a second later, and began walking back to the room; she paused a moment, taking time to turn back to him, "Hurry up. Afternoon classes are going to start soon."

Takeshi looked dumbstruck, stuck in a reverie where all he could see was the faintest smile on her face. It was so cliché. He could almost see the pink and the sparkles floating around the imaginary smile that kept on popping up into his head.

But his dreamlike state changed quickly, her smile slipping out of view instead replaced by a shivering cold feeling in his body. It was almost like cold water had been splashed onto his back, destroying the warm and fluffy image and turning it into something cold and harsh. He remembered her frightened face, her cold eyes, her still lips… wasn't that the true Aoi? Who was the true Aoi? Was it the one as cold as ice? Or the one as warm as the sun? Or was she both?

"Takeshi! Are you going to stare at me all day long?" Aoi said, squeezing both his cheeks until they were red.

He was brought back to reality, like an alarm had gone off ruining a dream that hadn't finished. She sighed, knowing he had just totally zoned out. It was probably a norm for Yamamoto Takeshi. She could almost imagine Hayato scolding Takeshi for drifting in and out of the world. Giving him a warning glare she continued her journey back to the classroom, taking him a moment to realise the things that just conspired. She ignored all his calls for her to wait for him, holding her head held up high. She had her pride.

"Sorry, Aoi!" He said running up to her, landing both hands on her stiff shoulders, "I didn't mean to do that!" His hands slipped around her shoulders, ending up hugging her like the day before, "Don't get upset!"

She could feel the smile on his face when she touched his hand, "I'm not upset, stupid." She wound her hand around his, "Let's go to class. I hate being late."

Takeshi laughed as he slowly unravelled his arms from around her, finally getting the chance to walk beside her, "I'm gonna teach Tsuna how to swim later. Want to come?"

"Are you implying that I don't know how to swim?" Aoi clicked her tongue, shaking her head in disbelief, "I know how to swim." She turned her head away, huffing in annoyance, "It's been a while since someone has treated me the way you do, Takeshi."

"Treat you like what?"

"A baby." The transparent smile appeared again, "I forgot how nice it was."

* * *

Her blue-green eyes opened slowly, it was still early in the afternoon. A soft, almost silky, blanket was draped over her shoulders, a strangely firm pillow beneath her head. Soft cushions supported the lower half of her body. Where was she? She couldn't really remember. Her brain seemed to be fuzzy, not really registering anything around her.

She slowly traced her vision down to the blanket over her. It was black and only really covered the upper half of her body. Now that she squinted it looked a lot like a jacket and on the sleeve was a bright red and yellow tag. What did it say?

Giving up trying to read the characters she looked up, trying to view the ceiling. She didn't really expect to see Kyoya's sleeping face instead. His face rested on his palm that was leaning on the arm rest of the green couch they were on. A book lay forgotten in one of his hands that was lying motionless behind her.

Wait.

Stop.

Was she sleeping on his lap?

Emiko tried to sit up but her arms were too lethargic to respond to the command she telling them. Just as she let out the lightest breath and smallest movement, grey eyes flew open, ready for anything. It was only when he looked down to her open eyes that he realised it was only her. Kyoya sat up straight, relieving pressure off his arm, he sighed, placing the small book in his hand on the table. Emiko tried to get up but one of his hands pushed her down from her abdomen.

"K-Kyoya…" Emiko whispered, "W-What?"

Kyoya's hand trailed up before pulling down the collar of shirt, revealing her neck down to the collarbone. He eyed the piece of almost invisible skin coloured bandage on the base of her neck. In an instant he ripped the _offending _piece off of her neck, making her wince at the stinging sensation now convulsing through her neck. She quickly slapped a hand over the spot, trying to hide the red spot. He simply held her head in one hand and pulled away her hand away using his other one. As the redness of the bandage being pulled off died away a prominent red mark remained. Emiko turned her eyes away, her face blossoming in embarrassment.

"Why are you hiding this?" Kyoya said annoyed, his voice an octave lower than usual.

"Why would I want people to see my _hickey_?" Emiko said stubbornly, puffing her cheeks out in irritation, "The hickey _you _gave me?"

"Is there anything shameful in showing that you are mine?" This was a battle. They were answering each other with questions, not getting anywhere with the conversation.

"Doesn't it look inappropriate?" Emiko snapped, not believing he really thought it was okay to walk around with a hickey.

He could've rolled his eyes before dipping down, his lips just a breath away from her neck, "Isn't it fine? I can't have other people laying their hands on my property."

"K-Kyoya…!" Emiko's breath hitched in her throat and she felt Kyoya's lips touch several areas of her neck, "S-Stop!"

Like an entire world built just for them surrounded them, trapping her words and trapping her movements. In this infinite world where whatever Hibari Kyoya says, goes. She couldn't push him off no matter how much she wanted him to get off, no matter how much she wanted him to continue. Two conflicting forces striking in her very body. To let him or to stop him?

His rough hand grasped the wrist of her left hand, still not leaving her throat. His thumb left smooth circles on the inner side of her wrist. Her brain was going in too many circles to realise he was doing. She didn't feel him caressing her wrist, she didn't feel him add pressure little by little and she definitely didn't feel the concealer on her wrist being slowly ebbed away by his finger.

He sat up faster than she could breath and pulled her up, hand firm on her wrist. He pulled her body towards him, embracing her back with his other arm. His grip on her wrist tightened as she finally realised what had just occurred. She tried to pry away from him but to no avail, she couldn't move an inch.

"Kyoya…" Emiko leaned her head on his shoulder; she didn't want to see his reaction when he saw it.

He eyed her wrist, moving his own hand away from view. Emiko could feel his grip tighten on the back of her shirt as he saw what was left on her wrist. Ugly and disgusting, so obvious now without the make up to hide it. She balanced her whole body weight on his stronger frame; she couldn't take it if he hated her.

A scar.

Deep and long. It spread from one end of her wrist to the other. It was uneven and from what he could tell was done by a quivering hand.

"Please don't hate me… Kyoya…" Her whole being shook against him. She was ashamed. A mistake from years ago now prominent on her skin forever.

"What happened?" He said softly in her ear, holding her weakened body even tighter, "Emiko."

"The boy I loved left me. My parents were gone. I was separated from Ojii-sama." Emiko's tone trembled in every direction. Left, right, up, down… "I wanted to disappear from this world. It would've been better. No one would've cared. They all left me anyway."

"If you leave now…" His voice was so much softer than usual, "There will be people that are sad." He stroked the back of her head, "You are mine, Emiko. I won't allow you to disappear."

* * *

Feet submerged in the water, the sun setting in a number of shades of orange. She could've laughed at the four friends trying to get their hopeless friend to swim fifteen metres. She gave her advice but it was probably useless. She had said "_It's like tai chi; let your body go in the directions it wants to._" It had been a better explanation than Takeshi's sound effects, Hayato's theories, Haru's love and Ryohei's _extremeness_.

Aoi gave a soft applause as Tsuna finally reached the fifteen metre mark, coughing and spluttering water. She stood up, stepping away from the poolside she had sitting on. She brushed off her shorts, glad they didn't get wet as there weren't any children splashing around aimlessly. She ruffled the mop of hair damply sitting on Tsuna's head, congratulating him. The ghost of a smile slipped onto her lips, only catching the eyes of Tsuna and Takeshi.

"Come on, Takeshi. Uncle Tsuyoshi wants us home in thirty minutes." Aoi flipped open her phone, revealing the text message Tsuyoshi had sent her. She pushed him hurriedly into the changing room, hoping to get them home by the allocated time, "If we're one minute late I'll throw you off a building."

"Hey, Aoi-san…" After successfully getting Takeshi in the changing room she turned to face a fidgeting Tsuna. He looked up to her, her sharp eyes meeting his softer ones, "Aoi-san… You're actually very kind."

Her eyes narrowed slightly first, making Tsuna cower slightly, until they softened significantly, "Japan is a nice place. Coming here was a good choice. I'm already feeling like I'm at home." She swept a careless piece of hair behind her ear, a perfectly timed breeze swirling through the area, "I feel like I'm becoming the Aoi from before."

Tsuna stared into her eyes, looking off into the colourful sunset. The ice cold mirrors were warmer and sunnier, but not quite a summer. No longer frozen over. Like a substance between ice and water, not hot but not cold. But not quite yet warm. A little lost, too many trails laid out before her. The trails seemed endless but she followed a bright smile, held a firm hand and tried her best to keep up with his fast feet.

"Aoi-san, you're-" Tsuna began before Takeshi stepped out of the changing room, water dripping off the ends of his hair.

"Let's go, Aoi." Takeshi said cheerily, pulling Aoi along with him, waving farewell to his friends.

"You can ask me tomorrow, Sawada." Aoi said simply before catching up with Takeshi's pace.

"Sorry, were you talking with Tsuna?" Takeshi apologised, scratching the back of his head.

"It's fine. I was the one rushing you." She moved a little closer to him, leaving little air between their walking bodies, "Thanks for bringing me today. I should be fine tomorrow."

"You're welcome. It was really fun at the pool anyway!" He smiled widely at her, moving slightly closer to her, "I'm glad you enjoyed it."

Aoi moved a fraction closer, stopping just short of making any contact, "I feel like we've forgotten something…"

"Oh, really?" In an attempt to get closer to the girl he ended up accidentally brushing shoulders, he quickly shied away, "Sorry…"

"This is ridiculous."

"Eh?"

She took his arm and linked their elbows, pressing their shoulders closer, "I hate beating around the bush." Aoi tightened their link, "I used to link arms with Emiko all the time."

"Oh? Really?" He tried to look away, clearly embarrassed, he had never linked arms with a girl.

"Oh!" She said suddenly, stopping right in her tracks, "We're swimming breast stroke tomorrow, aren't we?"

* * *

Ta da! I hope you liked it! This chapter's more equal if you get what I mean. The first chapter was Aoi-centric but there wasn't really any romance, the second one was more focused on the HibarixEmiko and then the last one was more YamamotoxAoi. By the way I gave them numbers! Just for the heck of it

Aoi: 42

Emiko: 28

You probably won't get them but I'm gonna keep it a secret on why they are like this! I'll tell you in a chapter to come that is far far away… hahaha

Review!


	5. Chapter 5

Hi again! Yeah. This is the story I'm most into at the moment. Please tell me you guys like it too~ because I think I'm in love… haha! Have fun! This chapter is dedicated to the oh-so-wise omgpink! She gave me the idea for this! She's amazing! And she's helping me with my TakeshixAoi (will shorten to 8042 to make it easier to write) which needs serious help! Visit her! She is amazing!

I wanted to add some reality to this crazy world of KHR so there will be some things you would never have heard of before in KHR. You shall see what I mean.

And by the way, KyoyaxEmiko is 1828. Just to make it simpler.

And this chapter is set like two weeks after the previous one. Just to get some time skip. It's like just before their summer holidays.

* * *

Chapter 5

"I can't camp. I physically cannot camp." Aoi's words shot at them, blatant seriousness laced in every letter.

Tsuna sighed in relief. Reborn had _suggested_, threatened, that they go on a 'nice' camping trip on a remote island for a week during their summer holidays. Tsuna thought he would be the only one panicking but now that Aoi was against it as well maybe, unlikely, Reborn would change his mind.

"Come on, Aoi-chan! It'll be fun! The mountains, the flowers, the birds! Think of it! The cool feeling of showering in a river! Won't that be amazing?" Aoi could almost see the stars in Emiko's eyes, glitter flickering around her eyes as if fairy dust had been thrown on her.

"No. Seven days without a proper shower, sweating and hiking through mud doesn't sound amazing." Aoi said straightforwardly, "I don't do camping."

"Think about it this way Aoi, it'll be a great bonding experience!" Takeshi exclaimed, patting a hand on her shoulder.

"Bonding experience or not I can't camp. I could get injured and I tan easily so I'd rather not." Aoi snapped, prodding Takeshi in the shoulder.

"I agree with Aoi-san!" Tsuna burst out, "It's dangerous."

"What are you two worrying about? It will be fine!" Emiko said excitedly before turning to Reborn, "Hey, Reborn-oji-sama, when is it?"

"First week of your summer holidays." Reborn said clearly, his tone not leaving any room for complaint, "You can bring Hibari if you want, Emiko."

"It's not like that, Oji-sama!" Emiko said, her wands waving defensively in front of her, "It's just that right now Kyoya is sick and he told me I have to visit him every day." She tried to hide her blushing face, "He won't touch his medicine otherwise." She smiled brightly at the group, "If it's in then, then I think I should be able to go."

"Emiko, are you sure this Hibari is not your lover?" Aoi asked sceptically, making Emiko's cheeks blossom even redder.

"Of course not!" Emiko tried her best to protest, "And jeez! Stop saying 'lover'! It sounds like you think I have sex with him or something!"

"I never said anything about sex." Aoi stated simply.

"I didn't say anything about you saying something about sex!" Emiko growled, puffing her cheeks out in annoyance, "Jeez! This is getting confusing!"

"Emi, stop getting off topic." Reborn scolded, earning her a whack on the shoulder. From Tsuna's point of view it looked like he didn't hit her as hard as he hit him, "Are you going or not, Aoi?"

"I'm not going." Aoi said easily, turning her head away from group, "How am I supposed to take care of my permed hair if I'm out camping showering in rivers?"

"Perm? But Aoi-san your hair isn't straight." Tsuna said, confused.

"I permed it curly." Aoi said simply, the looks on their faces made her want to slap herself on the forehead, "You didn't think my hair was naturally wavy like this did you?" Her hair in two low ponytails, she showed one of the unnaturally curled pigtails to the boys, "They take a lot of maintenance."

"Don't worry, Aoi." Reborn interjected, a sly smile on his face, "At the end of the trip you can spend two days in a hot spring. The staff there will help you with any hair issues."

"Reborn!" Tsuna yelled, not wanting to lose the only other sane person in the group, "Don't listen to him, Aoi-san! He's probably got something dangerous on the trip!" That earned him several whacks from Reborn, "Stop it!"

"Sawada, I am going to pretend that I didn't just see a baby hit you." Aoi lifted a brow at Tsuna before turning to Reborn, "But you really are a strange baby. Either way even if what you say is true then you still can't solve the problem of me getting a tan or getting injured."

Reborn's fedora hat slipped down slightly, a shadow covering his large beady eyes. He had done his research. "Aren't those two issues just because you used to dance? That shouldn't be an issue now."

"I…" Ouch. That was a soft spot. "I don't know. I'll think about it."

"Yay! Aoi-chan's coming!" Emiko jumped for joy, Aoi could almost imagine her friend hitting the ceiling. The way her friend acted distracted her from the raw pain in her chest that Reborn had just touched, "Isn't that great, Yamamoto-kun?"

"Yeah, it'll be so much more fun if all of us can go!" Takeshi joined in on her happy fest, Aoi twitched in annoyance.

"I didn't say I'd go. I said maybe." Aoi reminded coolly, "Stop jumping to conclusions you two."

"But it'll be more fun if you come!" Takeshi smiled brightly, grabbing onto her upper arm, making her face him, "Wouldn't want you to miss out on something like this!"

"Fun? I don't find something like being stuck in the outdoors _fun_." Aoi replied blatantly, turning her head away from the grinning baseball ace. Honestly, couldn't they get the hint she hated things like this?

"But Aoi-chan!" Emiko complained, throwing a pout at Aoi, "Yamamoto-kun and I won't be as happy without you there!"

"I don't care." Aoi growled, finding a low voice, emphasising every syllable.

"Aoi, come on it's a new experience. Try something new! Don't be so uptight and inflexible!" Takeshi exclaimed gleefully, yanking her arm in a way that made her face him again.

"Well, sorry if I'm uptight and inflexible. I've always been the inflexible one of my ballet class." Aoi shoved him lightly on the arm, trying to get him off because he was causing colour to intrude on her pale skin.

"But it's a great kind of thing to get to know each other." Takeshi said leaning closer to her face, completely oblivious to how close together they were and what different kinds of perverted thoughts came to Aoi and Emiko's minds.

"_I wonder what kind of getting to know each other you're thinking of, Yamamoto-kun…_" Emiko giggled slyly in English.

"I heard that." Aoi replied, knowing how to speak English fluently, "I understand, stupid Takeshi. Eighty percent chance maybe I'll come, okay? Only eighty percent though!" When Takeshi wrapped his arms around her in celebration she could almost die of all the blood rushing to her face, "It's only four fifths, you idiot! It's not like its hundred percent confirm, okay?"

"Aoi-san!" Tsuna panicked, his only hope had just wavered, immensely so, "Reborn! If it's one of your ideas then we definitely shouldn't go!"

"Dame-Tsuna. You have no choice in the matter." Reborn sent a swift kick to his head, successfully knocking him out.

"Tsuna-kun! Don't hit him like that, Oji-sama!"

"Sawada, what _just_ happened?"

"Tenth! Are you alright?"

"Tsuna? Is this one of your games again, kid?"

* * *

"You didn't have to hit Tsuna-kun like that." Emiko reprimanded, leaning against the open window of the reception room.

"It's the only way he'll learn." Reborn replied simply, sitting on the edge of the desk in the room. She saw him sigh, the atmosphere changing immediately, "Has Lal Mirch left Japan yet?"

"Yeah, yesterday. It's starting soon, isn't it?" With half lidded eyes she slid her hand down the edge of the window's frame.

"You won't have to pretend anymore, Eri." He glanced at her darkly, seeing the sour smile dancing on her lips.

"Don't call me that, Oji-sama." She could feel her knuckles turning white from clutching the metal frame so hard, "Even after all of this I don't think everything will go back to normal."

"What are you so afraid of?" He hopped off the desk, landing right by her side.

"Everything's changed. All these years of lies… Ending it now…" She whispered, not bothering to look down at Reborn, "Even if it were to end now I wouldn't be happy. All my friends… They'd hate me."

"Don't underestimate Tsuna and his guardians." Reborn replied snappily, his voice ringing through her ears.

"Has Iemitsu-san decided? Who will be Tsuna-kun's guardians?" She asked but she already knew the answer.

"You should know who they are." Reborn saw through her act, she could almost laugh.

"Not all." She said slyly, "The Season guardians. Fuyu, Natsu, Haru and Aki **(1)**." She glanced down at the baby sitting next to her, "Who are they?"

"Stop playing a fool, Eri!" Reborn slapped her across the face, pain rushing through her cheek, "Those rings have chosen. You should know full well who they are."

"I… I hate this." She said with a sad smile, her hand lifting up to her throbbing cheek, "Why does it have to happen so soon? I don't want Tsuna-kun and his friends to get hurt." She leaned her head, "I don't want to involve Aoi-chan with the Mafia anymore."

"Then her parents' deaths will be useless." Reborn reminded her, "Don't forget that, Baka-Eri."

"Why? Why does she have to involved in all of this!" She suddenly burst out, raising her voice against him, "She had so much in America! Her parents! Her dance! And we took all of it away…"

"It's not your fault, Eri. It was his choice." Reborn said calmly, dangerously calm.

"I still did nothing for her! And you said something so painful to her today." Emiko said bitterly, "She still blames her dancing for it and you brought it up!"

"It's necessary. She needs to come to this trip." Reborn jumped on to her shoulder, looking her straight in the eye.

"I can't think of a reason why." Emiko almost wanted to shrug him off.

"Yuuki. Kagome Yuuki. He's coming to Japan today." Reborn stated simply, he could see the doubt gathering in her blue-green eyes.

"Isn't it too soon?" Emiko asked worriedly, "She might not be ready."

"We don't have time to worry about it, Eri." Reborn pressed, time was slipping away and too soon would it be gone.

"I know, I know." Emiko breathed, sighing in defeat, "I have to go. Kyoya's waiting for me."

Emiko stood from her position, Reborn landed gracefully on the floor, watching her walk out of the room, "Time is running out. Don't get too attached."

"It's okay, Oji-sama. I understand. Just a little while longer." Emiko could barely hold the emotion surfacing at the tip of her voice.

"You're falling in love with him."

"I'm never going to fall in love again."

He could hear the regret in her voice but couldn't see the tears in her eyes as she exited.

* * *

"…_So selfish…"_

"_Up herself…"_

"…_bitchy."_

"_Such a snob."_

"…_a fake…"_

She could pretend she couldn't hear them but she chose not to. It wasn't like they were knives stabbing into her so she didn't care what they decided to say about her. It wasn't like they were making the already freezing chamber in her chest decrease in temperature so there was no point to try and block them out.

Who was she kidding?

It hurt. A lot.

Ignoring it wouldn't work. No matter how much she knew she wasn't any of the words they spoke she felt each word, each insult, each rumour slowly pick at her heart, corrupting it, influencing it, little by little. What did she do to make all of them think of her like this? If so many of them thought so… wouldn't it be true then?

"Hey, Aoi!" Takeshi called to her, she didn't realise her head been buried in her arms before she lifted it to face him, "I've got baseball so wait for me, okay?"

Takeshi's smile seemed to glow in the afternoon sun that was filtering through the windows, "Oh, Takeshi…" She wanted to say yes, she wanted to stay and wait for him. But her thoughts were swirling, entwining, circling too much for her to understand what she truly wanted, "I left my umbrella and sun block at home. I can't go today."

"Huh?" His smile lessened for a second. His smile cracked for a second.

"I'm not waiting today. I could tan my skin, my hair gets frizzy in the heat and there's really no point. I don't know what I was thinking when I was waiting for you all those times!" She slammed her palm on the desk she was resting on, the sound echoing in the empty classroom, "I don't see the point of baseball anyway! It's just a bunch sweaty guys running around for a ball! So unglam **(2)**!" She couldn't stop herself. This wasn't her. This was the rumours controlling her heart. This wasn't her. "And that's not all! You and your friends… always playing around, not a care in the world. You're just a bunch of idiots who don't know anything!"

"Aoi, is that what you really think?" He asked, his voice so low. The look in his eye, the missing smile. Not angry, not upset, somewhere between the two emotions but with a third feeling mixed in.

"I…" She wanted to say 'no'. She wanted to tell him she was sorry. "I'm going home."

Her chair screeched behind her, her running footsteps behind her, "Aoi, what happened?"

Something was wrong. Aoi was selfish, prideful and confident but she wasn't like that. She had that sense of care to her, a sense of loving. He could almost smile. She had been in such a hurry she didn't realise she had left her bag behind. He went to pick it up for her but something fell out just as he lifted the open bag off the ground. It clattered noisily on the floor, the sound resounding through the empty classroom and hallways.

An umbrella.

* * *

"Kyoya, were you bullying the other patients again?" Emiko asked sceptically, knowing the pile of unconscious patients outside his room was _probably _(she could hope) his doing.

"They were disturbing my sleep." Kyoya said, not denying it at all.

Emiko sighed; she couldn't change that about him. She eyed the untouched medicine, "Drink your medicine, Kyoya. Or you won't get better and if you don't get better then no one's going to be looking after Nami-Middle's discipline."

"_You're _supposed to be looking after the school's discipline, Emiko." Kyoya glared at her, knowing full well she wasn't.

"But I get distracted easily!" Emiko laughed, "So, if you want the order to come back to school then you better get well!"

"I'll drink my medicine if Emiko feeds it to me." Kyoya said stubbornly, folding his arms to prove his point. When he smirked like that he meant he was business.

"That's embarrassing!" Emiko exclaimed, doing weird hand gestures to prove her point.

"Then I won't drink it." Kyoya looked away, persistently proving his point. Knowing him he definitely wasn't going to eat it unless she fed him.

"Fine. But you're not allowed to pull any funny stuff while I do, okay?" She eyed him carefully, trying to pinpoint any twitches, any movements that would say he would.

When his smirk grew her hopes sunk ten feet into the ground, "You should already know the answer."

With no other choice she picked up the bottle with cough mixture filling it to the top. After reading the dosage she poured the red liquid into the spoon on the side table. Reluctantly, she sat on the edge of his bed, holding a hand precariously under the spoon to make sure she didn't spill a drop. Slowly, excruciatingly so, she leaned closer, her mind working overtime trying to figure out how to do this without getting a heart attack.

Hmm…

No ideas.

It was like a frog was stuck in her throat and she desperately tried to swallow down the amphibian. She leaned closer, closer, closer… Spoon in hand; she was just inches away from his face. The smirk on his face grew, the spoon just by his lips.

"Hurry up… I can't stay here forever." Emiko mumbled, trying her best to keep the blush off her face.

"I don't recall giving you permission to order me around," Kyoya teased, grasping her forearm with his vice-like grip. He could read her like a book, "Emiko."

As soon as the medicine was in his mouth the spoon went flying, metal clanging noisily on the hospital tiles. The bed sheet was thrown in the air and one Hanabara Emiko was pulled into the arms of Hibari Kyoya. A Hibari Kyoya dressed in only black pyjamas instead of the school uniform, the only thing she had seen him wear. It was quite hot, she might add. Cradled in his arms with him clad in only a thin sheet of fabric definitely got the blush-works going.

"K-Kyoya!" Emiko gasped, her tiny frame basically enveloped in his larger one.

"The medicine is making me drowsy." Kyoya said sneakily, feinting tired eyes.

"Medicine doesn't work that fast!" Emiko retorted quickly before he could actually fall asleep, just for measure she placed both her hands on his face, keeping his eyes focused on her, "I need to tell you something anyway. Do _not_ fall asleep."

"Ordering me around like this… I'll definitely bite you to death when I get better." Kyoya's sly smile snuck out, making her shudder at the thought, "For now, I will listen." The usually stubborn man tightened his grip on her, pulling her even closer. No wonder he was being strangely cooperative. He wasn't planning on letting her go after this. Go figure.

"Jumping off buildings really hurts, you know?" Emiko asked rhetorically, a smile playing on her lips as she recalled the first time she met him. They had fought for hours, locked in the reception room (courtesy of Reborn). The only way out? A window. Jumping from the third storey was a new experience for her and she definitely didn't want to try it again.

"Then learn your lesson." Kyoya smirked, drawing his face closer to her's and cuddling her tighter. Being cuddled by the scariest guy in Namimori was weird, she had to admit.

"Well, your lessons are just difficult." Emiko retorted smartly.

"Sixteen year olds shouldn't complaining about learning lessons that are difficult."

True.

"Sixteen year olds shouldn't be napping at every given moment."

Touché.

With a laugh, Emiko didn't realise her arms gripping onto Kyoya, holding him, bringing their bodies infinitely closer, "Do you want to go on a camping trip with me?" She rested her head on his chest, "Don't worry about crowding. We may be going with Tsuna-kun and his friends but Oji-sama is splitting us up into pairs." She snuggled closer, she was going to exploit this opportunity to its maximum now, "It'll be just the two of us."

"School holidays?" Kyoya checked, he wasn't about to skip school for a week. Even if it were for her.

"Of course. You'd have my head if it were during school." Emiko giggled, her body vibrating against his, a warm sensation, "If you don't go I think I'll end up being partnered up with Tsuna-kun…"

"You're not being partnered up with a herbivore." Kyoya snapped hastily, "You're forgetting you're mine, Emiko."

"Saying things like that…" Emiko felt a smirk upturning on her lips, "Are you jealous, Kyoya?"

"And if I were?"

* * *

Practice had ended late. Very, very late. The sun had already set by the time Takeshi had packed up all the equipment and gotten changed. The stars glimmered in the sky, twinkling like it was a message in the sky. He was sort of glad Aoi didn't wait for him. It would be too late for a girl her age to staying out this late, even if he was there to walk her home.

On his way home he unexpectedly bumped into someone. Someone very small and with very short hair. Of course, no one else in Namimori sported the same height and hairstyle as Hanabara Emiko.

"Ah, Hanabara-senpai! Didn't see you there! Sorry." Takeshi quickly apologised before realising they were the wrong words to say to her.

"Are you calling me so short that you can't see me, Yamamoto-kun?" Emiko twitched and twitched, a glare so scary Takeshi thought he felt his knees buckle instinctively. The next thing he knew he felt the back of her hand whack him across the upside of his head. That _almost _knocked him out.

* * *

"I'm so, so sorry!" Emiko practically screamed for the fifth time. Sitting at a small café, Emiko told him she would treat him to some milk (his favourite) as an apology for almost knocking him unconscious.

"It's alright, Senpai! I really shouldn't have said it that way!" Takeshi grinned, pearly whites shining at her.

"Something happen between you and Aoi-chan? You usually walk home together." Emiko jumped straight to the point. When it involved Aoi, Emiko knew.

"I guess we had a fight. She was really upset today." Takeshi really wondered if it was a fight. Wasn't all that happened was she insulted all the things he loved?

"Do you know?" Emiko rested her elbow on the table, propping her face in her hand, "That Aoi-chan is getting bullied."

"W-What?" Aoi? Bullied? Those two words didn't really seem to go together. She seemed strong enough to ward off bullies.

"Aoi-chan may be strong but she'd rather keep quiet and ignore it than fight back." Emiko turned her face in her hand, partially covering her own mouth, "She's always been like that. The rumours, the gossiping, the silent bullying… she's taken it all. It's not very noticeable but…" Emiko bit her lip, "Aoi-chan bottles it all inside her. Every time they bad mouth her, behind her back or to her face, every time they back her into a corner… it's killing her." Emiko could feel her eyes darkening, anger boiling inside, "The worst part is it's our fault. And we can't do a bloody thing to help her!"

"It's _our _fault?" Takeshi was still confused by this whole ordeal. Aoi always seemed so _cool_. She never said anything. She never showed one sign of unhappiness. She looked so happy and yet this was happening behind his back…

"That's it. Yamamoto-kun, you must've realised you're popular in the school. Aoi-chan is so close to you, of course the girls would target her. Not to mention Gokudera-kun is also relatively close to her and even Sasagawa-kun knows her. Tachibana-san also, being scouted like that…" Emiko could barely control herself, "It's my fault too. My connection to Kyoya… The only reason I don't get bullied is because Kyoya will protect me but… because of jealousy of knowing so many popular people and even knowing someone who is the closest to someone like Kyoya… I'm not surprised." Anger at herself continued to simmer, pop and steam, "I knew all about this but I couldn't do a damn thing to help her because if I did I would end up hurting Aoi-chan. Aoi-chan's pride."

Silence. Just for a moment it was silent.

"Why? Why is Aoi keeping all of this to herself? Aren't we supposed to be friends!" Takeshi couldn't hide the hurt in his voice. Weren't friends supposed to tell each other things like this?

"Aoi-chan is selfish and selfless. She doesn't want us to worry but she doesn't want to seem weak. She wants to protect us but she wants to protect her pride." Emiko couldn't contain the emotions brimming at the surface; her hand clenched her skirt so tightly she thought she would rip it, "Aoi-chan is someone that prefers to do things her way."

Speechless, Takeshi banged his head on the table, not knowing what else to do. The café's metal table made his head ring but he didn't care. To say he was angry or upset was the understatement of the century. Takeshi had never felt such burning emotion rush through his head, all the way from his nose to his toes. Like a scorching fire it spread, his fist clenched, his breath hitched.

Emiko watched through aqua eyes. Through understanding lenses, she felt her hand twitch to reach out to him.

"I want to tell you a secret." Emiko whispered, but the way she said it, it didn't sound anything like a secret, "Aoi-chan always hurts the people close to her." A smile etched into her featured, "So do I. Both of us… we end up hurting those we are close to." She ran a hand through chocolate hair, "Please forgive Aoi-chan."

"Aoi… She's supposed to be my friend." It was all he could utter. The words seemed to escape him, they didn't seem to connect from his brain to his tongue. Just from the emotions flowing from his voice seemed to tell Emiko more than any words could.

"She doesn't know what to do." Emiko nodded her head numbly at Takeshi, her chin lolling in her hand, "She used to be admired. Loved." Air seemed to escape her lips, "I know what she's feeling right now. I used to have people that cherished me before they all turned their backs on me." Taking her hand away, she leaned back into the white metal chair, "I didn't know what to do. I didn't know what to think. I didn't know who I was."

"Senpai…"

"Aoi-chan was the one that saved me from that. You have to be the one to save her." _Because I won't be there for her for much longer._

"Save her? All she did was tell me everything I like is pointless. All she did was keep things from me."

"You probably don't know this but she doesn't do well under pressure. She… just snaps. She doesn't just insult people. She just goes further and further into herself."

* * *

Legs raised against the wall, back pressed on the floor, book in hand, dressed in only a pair of shorts and a tank top, set in a side split that was only forty or degrees off one hundred eighty… Aoi could not have gone more red when she realised Takeshi had just entered the room.

She scrambled away from the wall, standing up, her back up against the wall furthest away from Takeshi. Silence greeted them and took the liberty of filling the entire room. The only noise was Tsuyoshi laughing heartily below them and the sound of wind blowing outside the window. The quietness was strange and untouched. It was almost an eternity before the silence decided to break, before it decided to leave the vicinity.

"You probably hate me right now, don't you?" Aoi said quietly, almost inaudibly, almost silently, "I said all those things. I insulted your passion and your friends." She stared into his eyes. All there was was blankness. And she knew she was the cause. "I really am a terrible person, right?"

And with that she flitted out of the room, just a blur of red hair, denim shorts and a yellow top. He didn't take a step out of the room. He didn't take a step to follow her. He just fell to his knees, buried his head in his hands.

Save her?

Don't be ridiculous.

He didn't even know what he was feeling. Was it rage? Was it grief? What did he feel right now? Was he angry at her? Was upset at her? Right at this moment, he didn't want to even speak a single word of kindness to her.

Angry she was keeping things from him. Angry she said all those things. Angry he made her have such a sad face.

Upset she cared more about her pride than their friendship. Upset that she insulted all the things he loved. Upset he made her look so guilty.

Who was he kidding?

Her? Oh please. He was more displeased at himself than anyone else.

While she silently took everything, he smiled and laughed, doing nothing to soothe the stress and pressure building on her shoulders. It piled and piled onto her shoulders until she finally collapsed. Like a rock in pounded on her until she couldn't take it anymore.

He slammed his hands onto the hard wood floor. A flame burning, spreading, scorching through the entirety of his being. Like a pot of boiling water was poured onto him, head to toe, it hurt, scalded and stung. It wasn't wholly directed at himself. Some, almost half, was beaming, streamlining to her.

One step.

Two steps.

He was going to follow her. He was going to find out what the hell was going through him. And the only way to do that was to chase after her. Mend the break. Sew the tear. Glue the cracks. Once he figured out everything, maybe it would make sense.

"Yo, Takeshi!" Tsuyoshi called out just as his son was about to step out of the shop, "Aoi-chan just left in a hurry. She looked pretty upset. Wonder what…"

His father's voice seemed to drone on in his head as his goal seemed fresh in his mind.

"Don't let go of her like how I did with Rei." Tsuyoshi said almost too suddenly. Takeshi snapped his head to face his father. The story of Rei Yamamoto was a bitter one, one of heartbreak. It broke more than just the two people of Rei and Tsuyoshi. It broke so much more. It tore apart so many bonds.

"Yeah, I know Dad." Takeshi sent a smile back at his dad. It wasn't the usual smile but it looked so much more matured.

So much more experienced.

* * *

The swing was rusty, big, wide and deep. It was an old swing. Probably older than the person sitting on it. The seat was fit for one but it seemed like two could squeeze on if they sat back to back. A yellow and white flip phone snapped to life as she opened it. The screen glowed and with a few buttons a video started to play.

The music was dramatic and yet so elegant, so loud in the quiet playground. The screen had a girl dancing with all her heart, hair pulled into a tight bun with a light blue tutu decorated with swirls and flowers sewn on. The stage was not a beautiful grand one but the inside of a studio. A tired yet so blissful smile filled the dancer's face as she danced with everything she could.

Her Pointe shoes weren't at top condition, her feet weren't entirely pointed and she wasn't well turned out but she couldn't have looked happier. The music finished and the dancer stopped to bow in front of the mirror, which acted as a mock audience, before running off what should have been a stage. Dancers standing scattered in the studio clapped and smiled and loud cheering could be heard from the person filming.

"That's my baby!"

The camera flipped to the camera woman, revealing a slight woman with long blonde hair and stunning azure eyes. She had a prize winning smile and lips to die for.

"You were amazing, Aoi! Don't forget Mama's always waiting outside the studio watching you dance! You are such a great dancer!" The woman spoke in perfect English. She couldn't have been prouder before looking shocked and turning the camera back to the studio where another girl began dancing, "Oh shit! Sorry Aoi! You _might_ have just missed Sasha's entrance but its okay!"

"Mama is an idiot." Aoi said softly, sadness brimming at her eyes as the dancer did a perfect _grande jette_, "I'm not amazing. I was always one step behind everyone."Aoi could hear the chattering among the mothers watching the rehearsal as well, words of being 'cool' and 'kind' and 'superb' knocked into Aoi's ears, "I'm not such a good person."

She leaned her forehead against the screen of her phone before she felt a back press against her's. The same soothing back. The same calming breathing. The same cooling presence.

"Why are you here, Takeshi?" She didn't even look up, didn't lift her head, like she wasn't allowed, "Did Uncle Tsuyoshi send you to get me?"

"No. I came here by myself." His voice seemed cracked and unused. It was almost as if the words were being forced out of his throat.

"Why? You obviously hate me." She breathed a hot breath, the loud music blaring from her phone, "I'm such a terrible person."

"I don't hate Aoi. I don't think Aoi is a bad person." Takeshi said almost too simply. Something couldn't be fixed so easily.

"Don't joke with me." Aoi said seriously, her voice trembling, "I said something so mean. I insulted everything you love. You have every reason in the world to hate me."

The next dance started, a different music playing from her phone, "It's true I was angry at Aoi." Takeshi leaned his back against Aoi's, taking the chance to stare at the blank sky, "I was angry that Aoi chose to keep things from me. To hide something so much that you said those things. We're supposed to be friends, right?"

"What are you talking about? I don't understand." She pretended to not know. She pretended that he knew nothing of what was happening to her.

"I know what's happening at school, Aoi." Takeshi said, his voice dead, blatant, obvious, "I hate how you kept all those things from me." He turned his head, trying to see her face that was buried in her phone, "I thought we were friends, Aoi! Friends don't keep things like that from each other! You don't keep things like this to yourself just to protect your pride!"

"What the hell do you know about me? You don't know anything about me so don't say things like you do." Aoi extracted her face from the phone screen before snapping it shut, the music ending with it.

"I _don't _know Aoi but being friends means we find things about each other!" Takeshi scolded harshly, "How am I supposed to find out about you if you keep things like this from me?"

And without realising they were looking at each other. Faces so close they could touch, breaths so close they could mix. Brown met blue and then the silence befell, returning with a vengeance. The silence, ten times stronger than before. Not a single noise revealed itself. True and utter quietness. Nothing. Blank. Everything fell to the silence.

And all of a sudden Aoi head fell onto his shoulder, her sweaty forehead pressed against his clothes. Her shoulders shook and everything in her began to fall apart.

"I don't know. I don't know _anything _right now." Emiko was right. She was so lost right now. "The old Aoi is gone. The new Aoi doesn't know what to do. I… I…"

His hands found her shoulders, almost surprisingly so. "Aoi, let's be friends, okay? Don't hide things from now, okay?"

All he had in response was the slight nod of her head, the slightest movement of her chin, the slightest ruffle of her hair.

Almost too easily the problem was fixed.

Almost too easily, like a broken mirror had been glued together.

And like a broken mirror the cracks remained.

The holes and emptiness were still there.

Ready to fall out of place at any moment.

* * *

"Class, settle down." The teacher stood at the front, beer gut sticking out as he readjusted his glasses, "We have a new student coming in."

That settled the usually unruly class.

The girls silenced, anticipating a cute foreigner to act as eye candy. And perhaps a nice one that wasn't stupid. Hayato was cute but his rotten attitude made most steer away and watch from afar, some liked the bad boy attitude. Takeshi was cute _and _nice but he was uncannily an idiot. Plus he was practically taken. Kyoya was hot but the fact that if anyone other than Emiko were to go within a metre of him there was a chance they would get pummelled.

The boys waited; maybe a girl with big eyes and big _boobs _would walk in. Kyoko was cute and all but she was undoubtedly _flat_. Same goes with the rest of the girls that ever walked into the classroom. Except for Aoi would seemed to have been blessed with the matured face and the not-so-flat chest of her American mother but she was unapproachable. And then there was the occasional visitor, the 16 year old Hanabara Emiko who was nice, had a sweet face and had a slightly larger than average chest. One problem? Hibari Kyoya. Anyone that _dared _touch Emiko was destined to be bitten to death.

With both genders praying…

The girls won out.

Short spiky pale yellow hair and big blue eyes. A couple of sets of "X" shaped bobby pins decorated his fringe, rings on his fingers and a single black bracelet on his wrist. He wore the uniform like a cross between the bad boy Hayato, the casual Takeshi and the follow-the-uniform-code-to-the-letter Kyoya. A smile not as bright as Takeshi's and slightly wider than the smile that Hayato occasionally graced them with but with the slyness Kyoya used with his rare smile.

It was like an angel had descended.

Crossed between the three hottest guys in the school and stealing all their good points all the girls were basically jumping for joy. Tsuna looked at Kyoko with distress. This cool looking God-like boy was standing at the front of the room. One hand shoved deep in a pocket, the other writing his name on the board. Luckily she was just smiling as usual. Nothing showing she was unusually happy. He stole a glance at Aoi who was just looking out the window. Not caring.

"My name is Kagome Yuuki. Please take care of me. Sorry to come at such an inconvenient time." He said casually, showing off his smile as turned to face class. Well, yes, coming the week before school holidays was rather inconvenient.

After much squealing by the girls and much effort to quieten them by the teacher, the teacher could finally settle the homeroom and move on.

"Ah, go sit next to Koizumi. The seat by the window." The teacher pointed to the conveniently empty seat just by the window, "Koizumi, er, raise your hand."

In an absent minded fashion and not even looking at the new student she raised her hand. With a smile he walked over and sat down, successfully blocking her view out the window. She sighed and turned away, trying to find something else to stare at for the rest of the boring lesson until a ring clad hand shot in front of her.

Sighing, she turned her head to the smiling boy. Only one hand stuck in front of her, the other still buried in the depths of his pocket. Looking from hand to face she couldn't believe what sat in front of her. The same shaped eye brow, the same length of eye lashes, the same curve for his nose, the same lips and the same cheek bones.

"I do hope we get along, Aoi-_san_." Yuuki said softly, his smile transforming into something else as the teacher continued the homeroom. The smile dropped from a sweet-sly one to a smirk. A dark smirk that could've made it seem like night. Like a cloud was looming over her head, shadowing her.

How did he know her first name?

"Why do you have his face?" Aoi hissed, glaring at all the similar features in front of her, the twisted smirk that ruined the image she kept locked in her mind, "Why do you have Ryuuki's face?"

* * *

TA-DA!

Yes I do in fact love cliff-hangers!

And I know you all hate me. *runs from flurry of pineapples being thrown at her*

REVIEW! Teehee.

Okay. I feel better now. This one is quite even too. I tried to make my 8042 (XD) more frustrating and less perfect. Even though it got resolved rather quickly I wanted to create the cracks in the mirror.

Who liked the massive 1828 (:D) moment? The hospital bed and stuff. Yeah, sounds wrong but it was just a random thought I had and I think that Kyoya is extremely hot in his pyjamas!

By the way, there is a reason to why Ryuuki and Yuuki have such sickeningly similar names and that shall be revealed much farther into the story but I think some of you may be able to guess! Also, yes, I purposely and tried kind of sarcastically to make Yuuki sound like he was drop dead gorgeous.

REVIEW! Just reminding you.

**(1)**: Fuyu – Winter, Natsu – Summer, Haru – Spring, Aki – Autumn. I just wanted to write it out as it would sound in Japanese for the heck of it. Also knowing winter in Japanese will serve a better understanding in chapters very very far away. Those reading **Possessive** will also know the importance of Aki very soon. It's just a little fun on my part.

**(2)**: Unglamorous. It's very common for dancers to use this term. Teehee. Also the way Aoi speaks then is how I speak when I get lost in the moment. In a kind of weird accent.


	6. Chapter 6

Ok! I kind of have to write this story because it's the only one I that I don't have writer's block with. **Possessive** fans the next chappie is actually planned. Like I've actually planned, I just need to write it so expect it, okay?

Have fun! All those who hated me for the cliffy, you now have the resolution! Happy face! Haha.

* * *

Chapter 6

The morning was hot and sunny but with the blinds closed only a few streams of light were filtering through. The air conditioner was turned on near full blast, just to fight the heat. Emiko smiled at how cold the room was. The reception room was the only room available to students with air conditioning.

When she had complained to the newly cured Kyoya he had merely chucked his jacket her before snuggling into her thigh. His rough hand had clasped onto her own, claiming how her hand was cold and that it couldn't be healthy so he needed to warm it up for her. In Kyoya language: "Shut up and let me hold your hand."

She brushed a few stray hairs away from his face; he looked so much graceful when he slept. But she had always preferred his awake face to his sleeping one. There was something so much more alluring. She whacked her forehead with her palm, giving herself a wakeup call; she shouldn't be focusing on things like his face.

Her hand reached deep into her pocket, fishing out two photos. Reborn must've slipped them in yesterday when she was leaving. He had a tendency to put stuff on her person without her knowing. At first glance the pictures were identical. The same shade of soft brown hair, the emerald eyes and all their features matched each other, down to the last pigment.

But Emiko knew better.

One of them had hair that was slightly more stiff and stuck out whilst the other's was softer. Not noticeably unless with a magnifying glass though. The other had sharper eyes, not as round as the other. She couldn't tell from the photos, she knew from the actual people. _And _maybe from the names on the back.

"So you finally see the present I left you yesterday."

She snapped her head to the doorway where Reborn stood with the same smug look he always had. The pictures were then efficiently thrown, like a disk, to him, where he, unsurprisingly, expertly caught.

"So, Yuuki-kun is coming today?" Emiko whispered, hoping not to wake the prefect when they were in the middle of talking about the mafia.

"That's right. He even organised to be in Aoi's class." Reborn said before opening the door, "From what I heard, Aoi already met him."

"Were you spying on Tsuna-kun's class again?" Emiko said with a smile, when she received silence she almost laughed, "Make sure Yuuki-kun doesn't do anything weird to Aoi-chan, okay?" She looked down at the boy napping in her lap, reminding her of fond memories, "I don't want her to get hurt."

"Don't worry. He doesn't look like how he used to." Reborn gave a shrug of his shoulders, "He still cares about her, you know."

* * *

"Why do you know so much about me?" Aoi snapped.

He had half-dragged her out of the classroom as soon as the bell for the break went off to the grassy part of the back of the school. The vice-like grip on her wrist was blossoming in red and would soon blossom in black and blue. As soon as they were ear shot of everyone he showed her his knowledge on every aspect of her. From her favourite colour to the accident four months ago, from her hometown to the Swan Lake music box still tucked away in her duffle bag.

"Ryuuki-aniki **(1)**, your old boyfriend, was my distant relative." Yuuki said sighing deeply, locking her eyes in place, "With dominant genes and such, both of us ended up having near identical faces."

"That's impossible. Even with dominant genes, unless you're identical twins you won't look the same." Aoi said, she wouldn't be so easily fooled.

"I don't know how it happened either. But that's what I was told." Yuuki said, running a hand through his hair. He had dropped his façade ever since he was alone with her, "Ryuuki-aniki and I were really close. Even though we weren't close relatives, he and I got along really well." He let a chuckle escape closed lips, "He always talked about you. He told me everything about you and then when I moved to the same school as him I saw you."

He used the hand that had been buried in his pocket to grab her already sore wrist and tugged her towards him, lessening the space she had put between them. When she tried to yank away, his grip only tightened, making her wince in pain. His grasp was too tight, too strong and she hated it.

"I visited your classroom many times, just to see you." A smirk fell on his lips and she couldn't tell truth from lie, "You were so lost in your own world. Ryuuki-aniki, Emiko and all the people that admired you, it was like you were some fairy from another world." He brought her face closer, "Before I knew it, I started to like you."

"W-What are you talking about? I never saw you." Aoi said, trying to flash back into her memories, but all she could see was Emiko, Ryuuki and all her dancing. Was she really so caught up in all of it that she couldn't see all those around her?

"I answered all your questions, so now I'm allowed to have a little fun." He pulled her wrist down, delving it into his pocket.

She struggled to pull it away before her fingertips hit cold metal. She froze. Like a cool wind had chilled her body. Yuuki smirked at her reaction. Exactly as he thought it would be. A shadow covered her entire figure and water became ice.

He leaned down, his lips touching the shell of her ear, "Think I can use it?"

Her body trembled, something awakening in her. Her thoughts swirled and mixed. She couldn't think and her surroundings started to fade. Sky blue eyes lightened and lightened until a near white colour, an icy blue. The chamber in her chest seemed to drop in temperature, freezing even tighter. Her heart screamed in protest as the locks and chains tied even tighter around it as ice wound around it, cheering as it received its prisoner. Her emotions wound together like a rope before being locked behind arctic doors.

"Stop playing around with her, Yuuki. You wouldn't want to deal with an angry Emi."

Yuuki looked over at the baby perched on the ledge of one of the windows. He let go of her wrist and her hand slipped out of his pocket before stumbling back and hitting her back on the wall behind her. She touched her forehead only to flinch at how cold her fingertips were. Touching her face she could only twitch at the temperature. Every inch of her skin a piece of white hot snow.

Watching in amusement, Yuuki could only smirk at how her eyes quickly changed colour, returning to their original azure. An awakening. A revolution. A _change_. Whatever word he chose, it all meant the same thing.

"What did you do to me?" Aoi growled as her skin slowly returned back to regular temperature, ice melting in lukewarm water.

"You're trapped in a dangerous world, Aoi." Yuuki said glancing up to Reborn who had disappeared, "You aren't capable as you are now." He reached to touch her face before she ducked down, crouching down on the well kept grass, "I'll protect you. Not just as Ryuuki-aniki's relative but as the boy who likes you." When Aoi looked up to the eyes that were so like her's, she could almost see the forlornness in them, making her want to believe every word he said, "I can make you stronger."

"Aoi!"

Takeshi rounded a corner, Reborn perched on his shoulder. That baby worked fast. Yuuki wasted no time to do a disappearing act, leaving the sight of both Takeshi and Aoi.

"Takeshi…" Aoi whispered, surprised at how dusty and old her throat felt.

"Are you alright?" Takeshi asked with a smile, reaching down, offering a hand to help her stand.

Instead, she reached for his cheeks, startling him at how cool her skin felt on his face. When he flinched back she used the wall as leverage to pull herself up. Standing up too quickly, she felt her head spin and circle around her. Something like bile and saliva ran up her throat but didn't reach her mouth. She almost fell back down, risking a head injury, unable to balance her body between her two feet.

Strong tanned arms caught her between her chest and her arms and around her stomach. The mere way Takeshi had caught her allowed her shirt to ride up enough to reveal her pale stomach. He tried to look away from her toned abdomen only to blush bright red. The semi-conscious girl could only rest her head against his shoulder, trying to level her balance.

"O-Oi, do you feel okay?" Takeshi panicked. Kind of a stupid question considering she was near-unconscious.

"I… I'm alright." Aoi said trying to pull herself back up using his shirt and shoulder only to collapse back into his hold, "I'm just a bit dizzy." She pulled her hand over her eyes, to try and stop the spinning, "I just need to… level myself."

What an interesting choice of words.

"Level… yourself…?" Takeshi asked, trying to interpret her words.

"I used to get dizzy all the time because I couldn't spot properly. I need to level myself so I can turn for the next exercise… otherwise I can't dance properly." Aoi tried to push herself back up from his chest and move her feet only to fall back again, her shirt only rising even further.

"W-Why don't I help you walk to the nurse?" Takeshi suggested, trying to walk and pull her along whilst still not trying to stress her body out, all at the same time.

"Just the classroom is fine; I don't need you to coddle me." Aoi said simply, causing him to laugh.

Between her fingers was his shirt as she desperately tried to stay steady, balancing her weight between her feet and him, something that was incredibly difficult. They had only made it to the door when she felt all strength in her legs give out, almost falling onto the ground. Takeshi smiled as she allowed her weight to completely rely on him, her mind being caught somewhere between reality and dreamland.

"Okay, maybe the nurse would be a good idea."

* * *

Her hand at this point in time probably hurt more than the face she had just hit. Her hand burned and stung like a blister dipped in a bottle of soap. His facial expression didn't budge as he felt the pain register in his cheek.

Silence befell. Confusion enlisted. Whispers burst amongst the class. The silence ended. Like with a snap of a finger everyone turned to the person next to them. Ready to share their thoughts. To receive others. And spread the word.

What had just occurred?

Did Emiko just _slap _Yuuki?

"What the _fuck _did you do to Aoi-chan?" Did Emiko just _swear_?

"All I did was show her what was in my pocket and she reacted _like that_." Yuuki said nonchalantly, a shrug of his shoulders. No use to try and keep up appearance now. "Just like how I expected her to."

"You almost made her faint! I don't care what Oji-sama says! I could fucking kill you right now, you shithead!" Emiko banged her hand against the wall beside her, creating a loud deafening silence to ensue in the class again.

"I was just making sure of something. I won't do anything to hurt her. Not after what Ryuuki-aniki did." Yuuki said looking away from her but she could see the sense of resolution in his eyes, "Don't worry, Eri-san."

"Don't call me that!" Yuuki would've received another slap if it weren't for an intervening prefect.

A pale white hand clasped around her wrist, halting any movement. Any noise. Any breath. It all stopped.

"To injure another student," Slate eyes narrowed to Yuuki's swollen cheek, "to attempt to damage school property," they followed to the slight dent in the wall, "and to use vulgar language," and finally they reached a pair of lips, "are all punishable by detentions, Emiko." He pulled her closer so their noses could almost touch and only their voices could reach each other, "You're going to explain to me _exactly _has occurred."

"You wouldn't-" Emiko tried to make out, a protest stuck in her throat.

Immediately she was flung over his shoulder, her stomach landing painfully on the bone of his clavicle. Her short skirt lifted slightly only to reveal a pair of skin tight black shorts beneath, disappointing the hopeful teenage boys scattered around the room. When she flailed her legs around, he merely pinched the spot on her back where he knew there was a bruise. He had given it to her, after all.

Silence came back almost tenfold as the demonic prefect exited. It was only broken after about five minutes when the root of the whole predicament began. Aoi.

"What happened?" Aoi said raiding a sceptical eye brow, "What's with this weird silence?"

"Aoi-san! You're alright!" The tense atmosphere dropped when Tsuna jumped up at the sight of her, rushing to her side.

A hand land on her shoulder, squeezing it, "Feeling better?" Takeshi's smile landed into her line of vision, "Can you walk?"

"I'm fine." Aoi said brushing it off, tucking loose hair behind her ear, "I got hungry so it was easy to get up again." A small meow escaped her stomach, earning her the amused looks of all her friends, "My stomach meows when I'm hungry, okay? So, let me eat."

Tsuna laughed, Takeshi's smile widened and Hayato sighed. And then out of the blue she felt herself between Takeshi's arms, "Don't push yourself, okay?" He let go in a second, "Don't want you fainting again."

"I told you I'm fine, correct? So, I'm fine." She smiled one of her unnoticeable smiles, recalling the growling rumbling at the bottom of her stomach, "I just need food. I skipped breakfast."

She then bee-lined away from the group, aiming straight for the lunch that was awaiting her in her bag. Only to find that the food she was anticipating was missing. She searched every corner of her bag, only to find zilch. Also added onto the missing list, her phone. Every corner of her bag was checked. She could've turned her whole bag inside out but wouldn't have found them.

"What's wrong with you, Baka-Aka** (2)**?" Hayato queried uninterestedly as he leaned on the ledge of her desk.

"How many times do I have to tell you it's not 'Baka-Aka'?" Aoi growled at Hayato but he ignored her and she sighed in defeat. It was like some sort of mutual understanding between them. Ryohei called it " the nerd alliance". Wow, he almost got mauled by two angry "nerds" that day. "I can't find my lunch or my phone."

"T-That's terrible!" Tsuna stuttered, panicking, knowing just how much Aoi valued her phone and just how scary she was when she was hungry, "Aoi-san, are you alright!"

"One of you 'fess up to have taking her stuff!" Hayato growled, taking out a few sticks of dynamite, the cigarette caught between his lips ready to light any of them at a moment's notice, "You're making the Tenth worry!"

"Stop panicking, Sawada." Aoi said looking him straight in the eye, catching him slightly off guard, "And don't kill anyone, Gokudera. But you're free to throw them around everywhere to get the person who took my stuff to come out."

"Sounds fun." Hayato smirked, his cigarette mere breaths away from the dynamite. Jeez! Why did they have to get along!

"A-Aoi-san! Don't encourage him! Gokudera-kun, please don't throw those around!" Tsuna said trying to flit between the two clearly irked people.

"You can share my lunch, Aoi." Takeshi said intervening at the best time possible, "I don't mind."

"T-Thanks, Takeshi. But my phone…" She muttered, "It has all my…"

"You can go look for it later when I'm at baseball practice. For now you should eat lunch. You could faint again from starvation." Takeshi said reasoning with her.

"You don't understand. I really need to get it." She wanted to cover her mouth as soon as she let the words escape her mouth, "I-I can't go looking for it today… Emiko is helping me pack for the stupid camping trip…"

"It's alright." Takeshi's smile didn't fail to lessen today, patting her shoulder in comfort, "I'm sure you'll find it. It'll turn up sooner or later." Takeshi went over to his table and gave her his unfinished lunch, handing her the pair of chopsticks he used, "Here."

"Thank you." Aoi said swiftly before using the chopsticks to pop some rice into her mouth.

"A-Aoi-san! Yamamoto just used those!" Tsuna said frantically, surprised that Aoi and Takeshi had just shared an indirect kiss.

"So?" Aoi said with a shrug of her shoulders, "Takeshi and I always share chopsticks at home."

* * *

"What happened?" Kyoya snapped as he dropped her onto the table in the reception room, her butt screaming in pain as the hard surface hit her bone.

"You wouldn't understand." Emiko said coldly, trying to avoid eye contact, "It's none of your business."

"It seems _you _don't understand." Kyoya said clearly annoyed. He slammed an open palm behind her tail bone, "You were disturbing the peace of Namimori Middle. That enough makes it my business." He breathed against her face, his breath tickling her cheeks, "You're also _mine_ so I'm willing to listen to the story you're going to explain." An order. No room for protest. "Either way I'll bite you to death."

"I told you it's none of your business! You wouldn't understand my situation! You wouldn't understand anything about me!" Emiko finally burst, lashing out a foot, aiming to where it mattered but only for him to grab her ankle and before she knew it, her body was hanging upside down. She didn't care that her skirt had flipped over. She always wore shorts underneath, after all.

"What makes you think I wouldn't?" Kyoya inquired, her short stature making it easy to keep her away from the ground.

"_Because _I'm in a world that at this point in time you wouldn't even be able to comprehend. I'm living a lie, Kyoya. A lie you would never believe." Emiko hissed behind teeth, venom he had never heard from her before escaping her.

"Try me." Kyoya said before dropping her, allowing the groan she suppressed phase him, to make it's way past his skin and straight into the chamber of his chest, "I'll listen."

Oh, yes.

He was pissed.

Oh so very pissed.

What fun.

Clumsily, she clambered up to a standing position. She had braced herself just enough not to break anything but clearly not enough to receive a bone aching pain in her left leg. She grabbed the edge of the table to pull herself up, ignoring the pair of eyes that were staring into her being. Didn't pay attention. Not one ounce. Not to the arrogance. Not to the pride. Not to the concern either.

"You wouldn't believe one word, Kyoya." She chuckled. How uncharacteristic. "Not one word." Repetition. The best form of persuasion. "Indefinitely." She grabbed herself, bracing herself for whatever was going to escape her lips, "I know you, Kyoya. You won't believe me." The sound of rain was heard in the background? Was it rain? It sounded too scarce. Too light. "I don't want you to know."

Kyoya reached out a hand which she flinched away from. Scared of touch. Scared of attachment. She'd let this continue on for too long. She'd let herself fool her heart for too long. It was all too long. Much too long. Anymore and she might just break. An elastic stretched too far was bound to snap, break and never reconnect.

The light pitter patter continued. So strange. It was so sunny out.

"Why are you crying, Emiko?"

The words hung in the air, a pungent scent lingering for a moment too long.

"I'm not crying. Definitely not." Emiko tried to convince herself, wiping her face and pulling out a smile that couldn't have looked more denying, "I'm definitely not crying." She rubbed her eyes sore, "It's all for Ojii-sama and Vongola… it's for my sake that Ojii-sama…" She sniffled, unable to make out words from the mucus sliding up and down her throat, "He's protecting me… he didn't abandon me… I'm not sad… I'm not sad…" She broke down in her hand, the weight of her world in her palm, "He didn't leave me alone… not alone…"

A cloud loomed in the sky, light and fluffy. It shadowed the earth, hiding summer's heat and beauty from all those below. In return the summer gave the cloud a grateful shining smile. The cloud continued on its way, lingering a moment only to relieve the summer for as long as possible. For the few moments that the heat stopped and breathed a cool sigh, Hibari Kyoya wrapped his arms around the sobbing girl. His hands gripped the slightly mangled shirt of her uniform, not wanting to let go. Trying to relieve her as long as possible.

"You're not alone, Emiko." Kyoya said simply, burying his nose in the sweet scent of her short hair, "I will always be by your side."

"Please… Please don't say things like that if you don't mean them." Her hands remained at her side, unmoving, still, "Don't promise me forever when you can't give it to me. Don't promise me companionship when you'll leave me eventually." He tightened around, not loosening, only closer, "Don't promise me love when you'll just hate me."

"Love…?" Kyoya whispered into her chocolate hair, "I have never promised you something as foolish as love."

"That's right. Love only brings you pain. It'll never last. What the point? It's just a joke." Emiko said, her voice shattering into a million pieces. She pushed her hands against his chest, leaving space between them, "So, what are we doing right now, Hibari Kyoya? It's not love. It's not friendship. Tell me, what are we doing right now? What are we? What am I to you?"

"You're someone that's too close to me. Someone that I need."

* * *

An extra hop in her step, a smile decorating her lips. She had a few papers in her hands but that was just her excuse. She had just seen Tetsuya and he had said all the members of the disciplinary committee were on patrol, the committee head was the only one in the room. His given name would be foreign on her tongue; she chose not to address him by his first name in front of others. It would only serve to create problems.

Absent-mindedly, almost as if on instinct, she reached up to her hair to make sure there were no knots in the usually well-kept black hair. She liked to wear it out so she always kept it short, the longest strands barely brushing her collar. Kyoya had been thankful when she followed the uniform code to the letter, the way he liked it.

One final check and her hand opened the door to the reception room without so much as a knock, "Kyoya-senpai, I have-" Her voice stuck in her throat. She'd heard the rumours. She didn't believe one word of them. She'd turned a blind eye, a deaf ear. "Oh! So sorry," She scratched the back of her head, her palms already feeling sweaty, "Hibari-senpai." She was quick to turn, to look away, to avoid, to ignore, to pretend she'd never seen it, "I'll come see you later then, since you're busy."

Kyoya was sitting in his usual chair at the desk but with an extra person sharing half the seat. A dry-eyed Emiko was sitting on the other side of chair, squishing them both on the small seat. Kyoya was bent over reading over the usual paperwork with Emiko looking over different ones. She didn't fail to see the arm he had around Emiko's hip.

No.

No.

No.

He never let anyone near him unless he was beating the living hell out of them. He barely even let her come within his personal space bubble. This couldn't be happening. When it came to Kyoya… she was the one he tolerated the most. Not Emiko.

Not Emiko.

_Not Emiko_.

"What is it, Tsuki?" Kyoya said nonchalantly as he looked up from his desk and Emiko's face, to see the exiting dance captain.

"I… I just need to drop some papers and stuff off. Nothing much." She sent him a tired smile. So broken. She waved the few papers in her hand, "I'll come by later."

"That's not all, is it?" She turned slowly to face him, grey eyes locking onto her deep black ones, "You never come to see me just for that."

"Er…" Tsukika stumbled on her words, "Hibari-san says she'll be coming home late so she wants me to cook you dinner. How does about seven-ish sound?" She tried to avert her eyes away from the clearly confused Emiko, "I'm making Katsu Don. Extra pork if you want."

"Might be a little late. You know where the spare key is." Kyoya stated simply before returning back to his work.

A smile of shock and joy burst onto Tsukika's usually calm face, "See you then, Kyoya-senpai!" She slammed the door of the cool reception room behind her, a strange sense of goofiness overcoming her.

"Just a childhood friend." Kyoya said easing the confusion that was etched onto Emiko's face, "My mother thinks I don't eat enough so she sends Tsuki."

"Is that it?" Emiko said sending him a smile. So different from the expression she wore just an hour before, "That must be nice. To have someone like that." Emiko leaned just a little closer to Kyoya. Just a little. "How long have you known Tachibana-san?"

"Is that really any of _your _business?" Kyoya smirked slyly, catching her off guard.

"Of course it isn't." Emiko said laughing, "It's only fair if I keep my secrets, that you keep yours." Her turn to be on the teasing side, "If what's between you and Tachibana-san is a secret."

"Don't push your luck, Emiko." Kyoya growled lowly, "I could bite you to death right now." He just sighed, reminiscent of when he was younger, smaller, "Tsuki is the reason I learned to fight."

* * *

"Tachibana…?" Aoi gave the older girl a sceptical look. In the few times Aoi had seen the third year she had never seen her with such a goofy look on her face, she didn't seem like the type.

"A-Ah! Koizumi Aoi!" Tsukika said, snapping out of her reverie, "So you finally decided to join the dance club, huh?"

"Er… No." Aoi said blatantly, "I'm going to go see Emiko. You were just walking around the corridor in a circle. I was wondering if you were drunk."

"Drunk? I'm a minor! I can't possibly drink alcohol!" Tsukika exclaimed, "Kyoya-senpai would have my head!" Her hands slapped over her mouth, not realising what had just escaped her lips, "I mean Hibari-senpai would…"

"You don't need alcohol to get drunk, you know?" Aoi raised an eye brow at the confused older girl, "There is always a little bit of insanity in dancers. We get drunk off anything." She shrugged her shoulders, "I had a friend who got drunk off smoothies, another one drunk off ice lemon tea, another one got drunk off the cold and I get drunk off being tired." She rolled her eyes, the corner of her lips slightly curved in a sarcastic smile, "It's normal for us."

Maybe she got drunk off his off-handed comments? Who knew? "Whatever." Tsukika gulped down a throaty breath, "R-Right now Hibari-senpai and Hanabara-san are a bit… busy."

"Don't care." Aoi brushed off, "Emiko promised me her time so I get her now. He gets her every other time." She began to continue down the corridor but stopped just to look back at the dance club captain, "Don't worry, I won't tell anyone you call Hibari by his first name."

Tsukika went red for a second before regaining her confidence, "Don't think I've given up on you, Koizumi Aoi!"

"Koizumi is just fine," Aoi said with a small smile dancing on her lips, "Tachibana."

"Call me Tsuki, Aoi." Tsukika said calmly, "It's what Kyoya-senpai calls me."

"I think I'll survive just fine with Tsukika." Aoi could hear Tsukika's laugh behind her as she continued down the hallway, "Wouldn't want to steal the pet name Hibari gave you."

"I-I don't like him like that!" Tsukika called out behind Aoi.

"Never said you did." Aoi said slyly making Tsukika blush and huff off.

When Aoi arrived at the reception room she noted the cool air escaping from the crack under the door. Just great. 'Cause the one thing she needed right now was a freezing room. Yay. Not. She sighed and pushed the door open, not caring what scene may behold behind. And she thanked the Gods that the images she was imagining weren't true.

"A-Aoi-chan!" Stuck on the same chair, squished on the usually large charge fir for one. Cute. Kind of. If it weren't for the scowl Kyoya donned.

"It's afterschool already, Emiko." She sent the pair a deadpanned look, wondering if she had just interrupted some sort of sweet moment, "You're supposed to help me pack, remember?" She groaned at the confused look Emiko sent her, "If I recall… 'You pack like a horse!', not that that even makes sense."

"I never said that! I said you _drink _like a horse. You pack like a half-wit." Emiko said rolling her eyes, a laugh reverberating in her throat.

"I don't drink." Aoi said sighing, she couldn't take any chances with the prefect sitting at Emiko's side.

"You drink water." Emiko said giggling, "Don't worry Kyoya. I don't think Aoi-chan would ever try alcohol. She gets drunk off of being tired so I don't think she wants to see what happens when she gets to alcohol."

"Well, duh." Aoi said with a half-smile, "So, let's go. I had to ditch Takeshi today 'cause you were all 'let's go pack!' and I was stupid enough to actually agree."

"Okay, okay! I'm coming!" Emiko said in a sing-song voice.

She stood up from her position ready to leave only to have Kyoya grab her arm and pull her down, whispering in her ear, "You really do look better with a smile."

Emiko turned away, blushing, before rushing to Aoi's side. She wrapped an arm around Aoi's waist and let Aoi's hand slip around her shoulders. Like always.

"Eh? Aoi-chan did you get shorter?" Emiko asked, realising the top of her head about where her friend's nose was.

"I didn't get shorter, Emiko. I don't even think that's possible." Aoi sighed, the answer was so bloody obvious, "I think you just got taller. If you're still growing, that is."

"Of course I'm still growing!" Emiko said cheerfully, "So if you're Kyoya's height then you're 169cm…"

"170. I'm 170cm." Aoi corrected, taking pride in that one simple centimetre.

"…and if about from the top of your head to the top of my head that's about 10cm…" She did silent calculations in her head. Her maths wasn't so hot, okay?

"160cm. You're about 160cm now." Aoi said simply, "Take 10 from 170 and you 160. It's not that hard."

"I knew that! You were just being a smarty pants." Emiko said snappily, "No wonder Sasagawa-kun says you and Gokudera-kun have a nerd alliance."

A vein twitched on Aoi's forehead, "I'm not a nerd, you're just dumb."

"I'm not dumb! My language arts, science and history marks have always been better than yours!" Emiko growled.

"That's because you know how to put pretty words together." Emiko could see the tiny curves at the corners of Aoi's lips and immediately calmed down.

"Will you two stop crowding before I bite you to death?"

Oh, right. Kyoya was still here.

"So, sorry, Mr. Prefect." Aoi mocked in a sarcastic tone, "I'll be taking Emiko now. I'll try my best not to steal her away, considering she was _my _best friend years before you even knew her."

Emiko could hear the sound of a tonfa being drawn and immediately began to usher Aoi out of the room. She sighed in relief when she heard no pursuing footsteps. Aoi and Kyoya always liked to provoke each other. No matter how scary Kyoya was, Aoi loved to remind him that he'd have to share, Emiko was her's before he even knew the girl even existed. In return, Kyoya loved to drop a word or two, reminding her that Hibari Kyoya did not share. Absolutely not. Why did they both have to have possession issues over her?

"Can't you two just get along?" Emiko asked and almost got her hopes up at Aoi's smile.

"Of course not."

* * *

Takeshi could never get tired of the cool feeling of sweat running down his back as he finished training. His chest would be pounding so hard it felt like he had just run a marathon. Adrenaline from running around the field countless times, hitting the ball as far as possible, was the best rush ever. His teammates, seniors and juniors alike, would pat him on the back, congratulating him on yet another job well done.

The feeling could then be completed by an umbrella, a roll of her eyes, a shake of her head and that sarcastic half-smile she wore when he grinned wider than ever. But that spot was blank. Today it was, at least. She'd gone home early, accompanied by Emiko, to go to pack for their camping trip in a few days. His days were usually complete by just training but now they seemed slightly empty without her looking at him with eyes that were saying 'hurry up, we'll be late'.

A breath of fresh air as he finished changing, he realised he was the last to leave. He had stayed back to pack up since he didn't have a dragon, Aoi, breathing down his back to get back home. Dragon? Interesting. Silent and confident, waiting for the opportune moment before lashing out without a moment's notice. Yeah, she was definitely a dragon.

"_O-Oi, give me back my phone!"_

Takeshi whirled around trying to find the source of the voice. It was the same as Aoi's except in English, which he clearly didn't understand.

"_No way! Hey, is this on record yet?"_

A new voice. Also English.

"_I'm not telling you until you give me back my phone! Don't make me grand battement you into next week!"_

Aoi again, what was going on? '_Grand battement'_? What was that?

"_Grande battement me and I'll développé you!"_

Where they like speaking French or something?

"Ah-ha!" Takeshi smiled in triumph as he finally found the source.

The source was a yellow and white flip phone, Aoi's phone to be precise. It was in the hands of a person whom Takeshi could not truly make out, a shadow covering his eyes. Well, at least Takeshi could make out it was a 'he'. He could see the forlorn smile on the person's lips though as he watched the screen intently, understanding every foreign word the girls spouted out.

The video stopped and the watcher ran a hand through spiky blond locks, revealing crystal blue eyes. Kagome Yuuki. If Takeshi recalled correctly. Wait. What? Why did he have Aoi's phone? Why was he looking through her stuff? What was he doing?

Takeshi ran towards Yuuki, sweat and all. Yuuki turned his head to face the baseball player, not surprised by his appearance.

"So you're still here, Yamamoto Takeshi." Yuuki said swiftly, he placed the phone in front of Takeshi's face, "Give this back to Aoi."

"What are you doing with Aoi's phone?" Takeshi snapped as he took the phone from Yuuki's loose fingers.

"I was the one who took it. What else would I be doing with it other than looking through the videos I wanted to see in the first place?" Yuuki said immediately making the air tense, heavy and thick.

"Don't you know how much Aoi's phone means to her!" Takeshi growled, an anger bubbling deep inside. If he knew anything about Aoi, he knew it had all the memories she had of America.

"Don't make me laugh, Yamamoto." Even as he said that Yuuki's smile twisted in a way that looked like he was about to burst into laughter, "_I _don't know something about Aoi? Don't act like you actually know her. Do _you _actually know anything about her?" He rolled his eyes, "Favourite food? Allergies? Birthday? _Middle name_?"

Takeshi remained silent. No. He didn't know any of those.

"Peach ice cream and strawberry tarts. Bee stings and dust. Fourth February. Hinako." Yuuki answered expertly in order, not wasting a breath. "Favourite colours? Hometown? Hobbies?" Yuuki shook his head, "Yellow, blue and purple. Namimori. Painting her nails and baking."

"W-Wait, her hometown is Namimori?" Takeshi stuttered. She moved from America!

"You claim to be her friend and you don't even know that much? You're a disappointment in every way possible, Yamamoto." Yuuki walked away, "None of you are qualified to taking care of Aoi." Yuuki shook his head once more, "I don't approve of you being the Rain guardian. Not one bit." He felt anger bubble in the back of his throat, "You aren't fit to be the Rain that stands by the Winter's side, protecting her."

* * *

Both girls were collapsed on the floor, a bag fully packed, perfect to the letter. They had just spent three hours packing the bag, chucking away the unnecessary stuff (courtesy of Aoi's need of them) and packing the bare necessities (deemed useless by Aoi).

Emiko sat with her legs stretched in front of her, Aoi resting her head on Emiko's thigh. Just like in America. Emiko ran her hair through Aoi's curled tresses, the slightly rough, slightly smooth hairs feeling ticklish to her fingers.

"Emiko, do you still play the piano?" Aoi asked out of the blue.

"No. I kind of quit after I came here." Emiko said giggling a bit.

"But you were so good at it." Aoi said burying the side of her head on Emiko's quadriceps.

"That's only because I studied it in Italy for a very long time and I continued in America." Emiko's hand traced down to Aoi's back, her fingers tracing the slight curve in Aoi's spine, "Ever since I moved to Japan, I felt that since something is going to end very soon, what's the point?"

"What?" Aoi asked, the sentence Emiko uttered sounded so confusing.

"You'll learn soon enough, Aoi-chan." Emiko said simply, a smile gracing her features.

"You're always like that." Aoi huffed, "'_Dancers are instruments, like a piano the choreographer plays,'_" Aoi said in perfect English, "George Balanchine." Aoi sighed softly, "I'm thinking of dancing again. I want to be the piano my choreographer plays. You're piano always reminded me of that. The way you play is like a choreographer is displeased with their choreography, not their dancer. Like the way they played, was all wrong."

"Enough about my piano already, but it's good to hear. You were always such an amazing dancer." Emiko complimented graciously.

"No, I wasn't." Aoi sent Emiko one of her half-smiles, "I always sucked."

"No, you don't." Emiko said firmly causing Aoi to let out a small chuckle.

"You and Takeshi… you both haven't seen me dance and you claim I'm good. You never know." Aoi said as she sat up to lean her head on Emiko's shoulder.

"Hey, Aoi-chan, do you like Yamamoto-kun?" Emiko asked suddenly, batting her long lashes at Aoi in anticipation.

"Isn't it obvious?" Aoi asked sceptically, not a drop of red on her cheeks as she basically confessed who she liked.

"No wonder Aoi-chan is number one least oblivious in Tsuna-kun's family when it comes to love in Fuuta-kun's rankings!" Emiko giggled.

"If I recall, that kid said something about in all of… 'Quahog'? 'Vongola'? Or whatever. It was like a clam or something…" Aoi said tapping her chin, trying her best to remember.

"Vongola is just the name of Tsuna-kun's family!" Emiko covered up. Not completely a lie.

"Whatever." Aoi brushed off, "I don't really see the point of turning a blind eye to what you feel. You can't really control it and everyone has someone they like at one point of their life. Nothing special." Aoi sat up straight, "The one thing I don't like about it is how fast I started to like Takeshi. It's almost ridiculous."

Emiko laughed at the contemplating look on Aoi's face, "It's fine, Aoi-chan! You should confess."

"I won't." Aoi said firmly, strongly, "I don't want to hurt him. I may have gotten over Ryuuki but I don't know if I well and truly like him. It's been too quick." She placed a hand over her eyes, "I want to confirm my feelings before I go and get him involved in them."

"It's good that you found someone you like though, Aoi-chan. It's," Emiko searched for the correct word, "comforting. I'm glad…"

_I'm glad Yamamoto-kun is here to take care of you when I'm not here._

_I'm glad Tachibana-san is here to look after of Kyoya when I leave._

_I'm glad Tsuna-kun's family is coming together, they can protect each other when I can't anymore._

_I'm_…

…_glad_…

* * *

DON'T STOP READING! YOU ABSOLUTELY CANNOT STOP READING!

I know this is my little author segment but there is a little preview/teaser section at the end of this! Like a trailer I guess. I don't have that many comments today, actually. Except there is a poll you might want to look at on my profile.

Did you guys like the little twists and stuff I put here and there? Hopefully!

REVIEW!

I don't really have any other notes so yeah…

**(1)**: It's like the brother version of what Hayato calls Bianchi. He calls her 'Aneki' which I guess you can say is the tough/mature version of older sister, so 'Aniki' is like that for big brother.

**(2)**: Translates into: Stupid-red. I figured Hayato always calls people by things other than their names so I was like what the heck. Sounds better in Japanese than in English.

OK! This is the preview/teaser thingo for the Varia/Future arc because I'm just evil that way. Have fun!

* * *

"_All I am to him… is a forgotten memory."_

"_Back when we were kids, we were friends. The person he was then is different to who he is now. I almost miss those days."_

"_This? This is nothing. A wine glass? A plate? It's like an ant bite. Even if he throws me off a cliff I'll still love him."_

"_I'm not doing this, waiting for the old him to come back. I just want to stay by his side forever."

* * *

_

"_I can't see what everyone can but I see everything no one can."_

"_We were a bunch of kids. What did you expect? We were fooling around and then this happened. Who knew this would happen?"_

"_I was glad when he showed me that world. I had been like this for about five years then and he showed me a paradise I never thought I could see."_

"_He's always on my mind. Stupid, blunt, antagonistic, everything about him. I cannot fulfil my role when I can't stop thinking about him. I'm sorry."

* * *

_

"_We studied in the same course for college. He was carefree and had an unusual sweet tooth but there was something about him…"_

"_We had only just started dating but then college ended and we broke up."_

"_I didn't see him for three years. He knocked me out and told me I was special. I don't know what happened but I agreed to help him."_

"_He gave me rewards but really all he did was kiss me and did as he liked with me. It was purely physical… but I fell in love."

* * *

_

"_For four years I stayed with him. I loved every minute of it."_

"_The way he was clumsy and useless was cute. The way he was reliable when the time called for it was cool. I honestly thought he was perfect."_

"_When I found out about all the secrets… I left. All I'd ever lived for at that point were lies. I couldn't take it anymore!"_

"_My life isn't a lie! I'll succeed and have something to prove what I've been doing isn't a lie!"

* * *

_

_"My swords are not for Varia. I've never used it for Varia. It was all for him."_

"_It started out as simple fucks. Who cared if we were underage? Everyone talked about love, dating and all that crap. We didn't give a damn. But we gave it a shot. And, holy shit, I loved it. I loved _him_."_

"_I wasn't strong enough for him. Got my ass handed to me once, he barely came in time. It was over between us."_

"_He left me to get stronger. To make his sword the strongest. To serve the boss he swore to. I'm going to become strong enough to be with him."

* * *

_

"_I hate princesses. Well and truly hate them."_

"_The princess of the household was beautiful. She had everything but the perfect love life. She blamed me for every little thing that went wrong."_

"_I had just come back from the market and everyone was dead. The look on her face… I'll never forget how fucking ugly she was. Every little bit of pain she got, she deserved."_

"_He was the first person to make me think that maybe being a princess wasn't so bad."

* * *

_

End of teaser/preview thing. Think of it as a trailer I guess! Not in any order.

See ya next chappie!

AND REVIEW!


	7. Chapter 7

Hello everyone! Miss me? Yes, I love you all. Haha. I'm in a weird mood. Well, not like that's not normal! Haha. Well, you will be glad to know I have been doing lots and lots of research for chapter(s) that are/is so very far away. Haha. Well, enjoy my lovelies Since the anime ended I decided to rewatch some episodes to pump myself up and I am Yama and Hibari filled! And I've been listening to the random OSTs, actually I'm listening right now! Haha.

* * *

Chapter 7

"You really don't expect me to cook, do you?" Aoi sent Reborn a quizzical look, "Because I think I should warn you now… every time I cook something tends to spontaneously combust."

"It's true! Please don't make her cook! She could set this whole island on fire _chopping cabbage_! There isn't even any fire involved in chopping cabbage!" Emiko waved her hands up and down for extra emphasis. She felt sorry for the little creatures that would lose their homes if Aoi had to cook.

"Well, at least I didn't add chilli to a peach tart." Aoi snapped, reminding Emiko of that one time when she nearly set everyone's tongue on fire with the seemingly harmless desert.

"That was once!" Emiko complained, pouting, "You always set things on fire."

"I wasn't the one that added pepper to ice cream." Aoi said raising an eyebrow at Emiko, "When I cook I can't help that things burst into flames. You can help not putting spices in deserts."

"Pepper and ice cream wasn't that bad! I kind of actually liked it." Emiko said looking away embarrassedly, "It was… crunchy."

Crunchy!

Tsuna couldn't believe they were having _another_ argument about something completely and utterly… weird! Weren't they supposed to be best friends?

"Stop changing the subject, Emi." Reborn said, sending Emiko a threatening look, the same dangerous glint in his eye, "Don't worry, there will be stations for you to camp out at with food completely prepared." Maps sprouted from Reborn's hands, seemingly magically, "Each station is marked on the map. So if you don't reach your station…" Reborn turned his head to Tsuna and Tsuna almost fainted, he _knew _that look, all too well. It was the _'if you don't do this right you're going to die_' look. And Tsuna almost always didn't do it right, "You won't get to eat."

Well, that was surprisingly docile.

"I've pre-arranged the groups and it goes as follows…" A chart sprouted from behind Reborn, another magical stunt the Arcobaleno decided to pull. From out of his sleeve he pulled a pointed, reaching up to show the first column of names, "First group, Aoi, Yamamoto and Yuuki." He handed each group member a map, all with the same marked paths and big red 'X's.

"Oji-sama, why are you-?" Emiko tried to interrupt; knowing nothing good could come from letting Yuuki walk around a remote island with Aoi for five days.

"Second group," Reborn continued sharply, his pointer already onto the second column, "Tsuna, Gokudera and…" Reborn looked around, sighing, "That girl is late again."

"Who…?" Tsuna asked, wondering who on Earth Reborn was thinking about. Haru was on vacation with her parents, Kyoko and her brother were away with their parents, Lambo and I-Pin were at home…

"You're late, Laurie." Reborn said clicking his tongue, a smile etching onto his features.

"Sorry, Reborn!" A violet dress with black leggings and a pair of large sunglasses came into view, "The stupid boat took forever. It got really delayed." Her fingers played with dark forest green hair, almost black but tinted with green, "Some idiot kept going on about his friend being right around the corner."

"Meet the No-Good Vongola Tenth, Dame-Tsuna." Reborn introduced, whacking Tsuna with the pointer in his hand for extra emphasis.

"You're still the same as ever, Reborn." Laurie said lifting her sunglasses to reveal teal eyes, a matching pair to her hair, "He's strict but he means well." Laurie said smiling, winking at Tsuna. Wow. That almost made Gokudera explode and set fire to the entire beach they were landed on, "Nice to meet you, Decimo. Name's Laurier-Rose Guérir." She held out her tanned hand out to him, revealing long slim fingers… "Call me Laurie." …which were anything but smooth. When Tsuna reached out to shake her hand he found out her hands were callused and rough, "So, you guys are Decimo's guardians, huh?" She examined the group thoroughly through round eyes, "Not too shabby lookin'. Could use a little work in the combat area but at least they're all hot."

"W-What?" Tsuna stared at the girl in front of him. Did she just blatantly point out that he was surrounded by good-looking people? Then again, he kind of was.

"Isn't that…" Laurie squinted her eyes at Emiko, rubbing them to make sure. Emiko tried to look away, tried to whistle a tune, which she couldn't, "Oh my god, it's Hime-san **(1)**!"

"Don't call me that!" Emiko said as Laurie smiled in triumph.

"Reborn. When you said there was something interesting you meant Decimo, his guardians and Hime-san, right?" Laurie clapped her hands together in excitement, "_Merci, merci, __monsieur!_ **(2)**"

"Back to the point." Reborn said clearing his throat, "Laurie you are the final member of this group." His pointer went back to the board.

"Camping, huh? No thanks." She ran a hand through glossy hair, "I usually love stuff like this but I've already been here. All the plants here are… so-so. None are life threatening, only gives you a bad stomach ache if you consume in large quantities. Nothing too interesting."

"I-Interesting!" Tsuna gasped, wondering what could be so interesting about deadly plants. Well, she was one of Reborn's friends. She had to be weird in at least three different ways.

"Vongola Tenth," Yuuki said, breaking Tsuna's line of thought, "this girl is…"

"Yuuki, shouldn't it be me introducing myself to Decimo?" Laurie sent a threatening smile to Yuuki. He didn't need to know her to know that smile, "Forgot to mention, people kind of call me…" Laurie quickly switched to English, "_The Rose Bay_. Seiyoukyouchikutou. **(3)**." She said it like it was nothing, "An independent assassin I guess you could say. Though I mostly do work for Vongola."

"_The Rose Bay_? _Oleander?_" Aoi asked in English, recalling a science lesson from a year ago, "If I recall it's one of the most poisonous flowers in the world, it's often used in suicide cases in India, I think."

"That's right!" Laurie sending Aoi a smile, "You must be Koizumi Aoi, right? I've heard about all of you." She pointed her finger at Takeshi, "Yamamoto Takeshi. You're just as smiley as Reborn said you were!" She changed over to Hayato, "Smokin' Bomb Hayato! I've heard all about you! In Italy too!" She giggled before turning back to Tsuna, "You're surrounded by a lot of reliable people. I'm jealous."

"How would you like to join their Family, Laurie?" Reborn said nonchalantly, keeping the same glint in his eye.

"Eh? Me? I don't know." She gave a shrug of her shoulders, rolling her eyes playfully, "You know I never have good luck with families."

"Give it a trial." Reborn said, sending her the look he knew she immune to. Too many people had looked at her, trying to kill her to make her phased by his, "Go on the camping trip, get to know them."

"So it all just led up to this? Figures." Laurie brushed stray hairs out of her face, "But are you sure? They could die." That definitely sent Tsuna's face into a next state of panic, "And if I were you, Decimo, I would wash my hands. Right before I met up with you I was fiddlin' around with some Autumn Crocus'. It's poison reduces blood pressure and can lead to cardiac arrest."

Without warning Tsuna ran off to the shore, rinsing his hands off as vigorously possible. Gokudera was at his side immediately, well, not without letting out a string of colourful Italian curses, all aimed at Laurie. She merely smiled and waved, knowing what each and every curse word meant.

"Putting Dame-Tsuna aside," Reborn continued on with the chart. He really was thinking of nothing else, was he? "Emi, you and Hibari will be the third and final group." He handed Emiko two maps, one for her, one for Kyoya.

"Hey, where is Kyoya anyway? He said he'd meet me here…" Emiko looked around; the shore was empty, it was only them.

"He said he didn't want to run into people crowding so he's coming an hour later." Reborn stated, watching Emiko sweat drop.

"Why didn't anyone tell me this?" Emiko scolded, staring down the short baby, cosplayed in a safari suit.

"You were just too stupid to ask." Reborn stated coldly, enjoying the heated reaction he got from the short-tempered Emiko.

"I am not stupid!" She huffed turning away from the smirking baby, "I just know too many smart people!"

"Oh, I forgot to mention, all of you in a group must share a tent." Reborn said as if there was really nothing to it.

"Eh? But those two will die if they even touch me." Laurie said, hands on her hips, standing right in front of Reborn.

"More importantly…" Emiko said stressing every syllable as she pushed Laurie out of the way, taking her place in front of Reborn, "How am I supposed to share a tent with Kyoya? I won't be wearing a bra!" Emiko turned to Aoi who had previously been arguing with Takeshi. Something about how she didn't want to get injured or tanned but Takeshi had simply laughed it off, ruffling her curled tresses. "Right, Aoi-chan?"

"What?" Aoi said, pulling away from the argument, one-sided, she was having with Takeshi.

"We can't share a tent with a bunch of boys. Our… _stuff_ will dangle about!" Emiko said, trying to make it as implied as possible.

"What do you mean? I wear a bra at night." Aoi sent Emiko a sceptical look. As if saying, '_who doesn't?'. _

"You're not supposed to sleep with a bra, you know!" Emiko panicked, "You're boobs won't grow!"

"Of course I know that. It's the whole reason _why _I started wearing a bra at night." Aoi shook her head in disapproval, "These things are big enough."

"What are you talking about! They're not nearly big enough!" Emiko looked up and down, from Aoi's chest to her face, back down then back up, frantically.

"Stop checking out my chest." Aoi said turning away, "It's my choice, right?" She sighed. Emiko didn't understand. "If you wear a leotard they always bounce around, especially when you do jumps. And then when you wear a tutu they look extra big which looks kind of obscene on stage." Aoi counted on her fingers, one, two, "And then when you sweat it's like a drain, you know. Like sweat goes down your cleavage." Three. "Then when you finish dancing there's like a whole patch of sweat on the skin leotard like right under your chest. It's super disgusting." And four.

"I really… didn't need to know that." Emiko sighed, trying to rush out all the images that were cumulating her head.

"You were asking for it." Aoi said a shrug of her shoulders, her famous half-smile in place.

"I can kind of understand you though, Aoi." Laurie piped in, propping her hand up to shade her eyes, "Being an assassin and all… we have to run a lot. I can understand the whole, sweat running down your cleavage thing." Laurie let out a small giggle, "It gets really disgusting. Especially when you wear a strapless bra." Laurie slapped over her own head, a revolution overcoming her, "Oh my god! I just realised something! What if I get my period?"

"I won't have to worry about it. I got mine last week." Aoi said with a shrug of her shoulders.

"Oh wait. I got mine two weeks ago. It's alright. Mine won't come this week." Laurie wiped her brow in a relieved fashion. "You're a little weird though, Aoi. Normal girls are afraid to talk about stuff like this out loud. Especially," Laurie eyed Takeshi. "around boys."

"I don't see the big deal. We've all got boobs, butts and periods. No big deal. It's not like boys don't know it either." Aoi rolled her eyes nonchalantly as she spoke, there was no point to being embarrassed really. A half-smile made its way to her lips before her hand reached up to touch Takeshi's, "Plus Takeshi's kind of used to it, I guess. You are, right?"

"Just a bit!" Takeshi said with the usual goofy grin. A bright sunshine… or maybe a calming rain?

"I don't know if I should be happy or sad about that." Aoi said, her smile turning slightly sarcastic.

"But I must say…" Laurie said tapping her chin, planning to go completely off topic, "I love your hips, Aoi. They're so nice and curvy. For someone that's fourteen at least."

"No, they aren't. My hips are actually really straight." Aoi ran her self-manicured fingers down her denim clad hips, revealing the deceiving straightness, "They're really small. It's just my butt. My butt was the biggest in my ballet class. Well, actually I was the only who _had _a butt. Everyone else was damn straight."

"Well, better to have them then not to, right?" Laurie said, placing her own hands on her sides, "My hips are like average but I seriously have no butt."

"Those two will get along." Reborn commented, facing Emiko, without even looking at her face he knew what expression she wore.

"Yeah. She's girly like Aoi-chan so…" Emiko went off on a thought, leaving her sentence unfinished.

* * *

Just how much longer was this hike!

They'd been at it for like what? Three hours? Four? She lost track after two. She'd also lost track of how many blisters she had. She stopped counting after about… four? Oh yeah, she had four on each foot and there was still chance for more. Great. The last time she had this many blisters was when she had to go to rehearsal every day, on Pointe for two hours at a time before going on again for another three.

"Keep your energy up!" Takeshi called, leading their tiny group to the destination. He seemed to bottle of sunshine. Well, he kind of was.

"Can we stop for like… an hour or two? I need to like tape my feet." Aoi grasped the bottom of his shirt, trying to make him stop, leaning her sweating forehead against the cushion of his bag, "How can you still be so energetic! I was half dead after the first like 10 minutes."

"Yeah, sure. You should've said so earlier." Takeshi said beaming a megawatt smile.

"You walk too fast." Aoi replied deadpanned, wiping her brow before finding the flattest rock in her line of vision. Sitting down she freed her feet from their confinements only to find there were little red spots scattered across her feet. Blisters. She knew it.

"Wow, those look really bad." Takeshi bit back a lip, he could only imagine how painful it was walking with them.

"I've had worse. Just need to tape them." She took in deep breaths, trying to regulate her breathing. She fished out several blister plasters and a roll of adhesive tape.

"Tape them…?" Takeshi asked with a smile, not getting what she was doing.

"Well, plasters will…" Aoi began as she placed a plaster on each blister.

"She doesn't want them to move around when she walks so she has to tape them down." Yuuki informed, once again displaying his infinite knowledge on her, "We should've stopped earlier if you've gotten so many."

Aoi sighed as she finished tapping down each plaster, tucking away all her equipment in her bag, "I've gotten worse. It was damn painful but I've survived." She slipped her shoe back on, wincing painfully, "And anyway, I won't be the butt of the group." There she goes again. Aoi and her pride are like candy and children's greedy fingers, they stick together. "The only reason I stopped is because even though you guys may not look tired everyone deserves a break, I don't care how good your stamina is. If you push yourselves to look tough, then you're going to over exert yourself, stupid heads."

"Here." Yuuki held out his hand, looking away from her face. In his fingers, which were encircled by rings, was a small piece of candy, "It's your favourite right? It'll make walking more bearable if you have candy to suck on."

"Thanks." But she didn't reach out to take, "But no thank you. I figured out if we're going to be hiking for like five days straight, it's kind of like exercise right? So if I don't eat fattening foods I'll lose these things." Aoi lifted her red tank top, just enough so the two boys could see the small, nothing too serious, rolls of fats just at her belly, "When they disappear then it's all about maintenance."

Both boys turned away, faces red with embarrassment. They could see the edges of her white frilly bra just poking out from underneath. Aoi barely realised they could see it and when she did she turned slightly red, only slightly, before pulling her shirt back down. She was okay with talking about it but them seeing her underwear was a totally different thing.

"S-So let's go, okay?" Takeshi said turning back to her, scratching his head embarrassedly.

"But we like just stopped like two seconds ago." She stood up anyway, dusting off her denim shorts, "Hurry up, hurry up. If I don't get my dinner I'm going to throw you both off the nearest cliff and I'm guessing there's one _really _close by."

"Don't push yourself." Takeshi said as he took her forearm in his hand and helped her along the uneven path, "If it hurts then tell me, okay?"

"_Stupid, stupid, stupid Takeshi_._ Don't do things like this to get my hopes up, stupid head._" Aoi said in English, trying to hide her blushing face. All of which a certain Japanese boy could not understand and a certain blond boy could.

* * *

The mirror glared back at her ten-fold. Just great. All this heat was getting to her. Especially to her hair. A knot here. A random curl over there. Split ends in the middle of it all. Just why did her hair have to sensitive to the heat? And green hair, no matter how dark, will always look terrible if there are ends hairs going out everywhere.

"Oi, Guérir, stop checking out your reflection, I'll kill you if you're the reason the Tenth doesn't get to eat!" Hayato called, she was seriously lagging behind and they were way behind schedule.

"I can't help it! I'm vain. It's my way of life. How else does a fourteen year old assassin survive? Seducin' fifty year old men is really hard unless you look like five years older!" Laurie pointed out, as if everything were just that simple.

"Laurie-san, you're the same age as us? But you seem so much older!" Tsuna gasped. She looked sixteen at least.

"Never know how far a little bit of makeup goes." Laurie said winking, revealing lashes brushed with mascara and lids lined with eye liner.

"Stop trying to hit on the Tenth!" Hayato yelled, his face red hot with anger and maybe just a little bit of embarrassment.

"I'm not trying to hit on Decimo or anything. Well, he is kinda cute but he's not my type." Laurie said slyly, "And neither are you, Smokin' Bomb Hayato."

"Y-Your type?" Tsuna asked. It wasn't like he was asking or anything but…

"I guess my type is someone who's…" She tapped a finger on her chin, jumping straight to conclusions, "Someone kind of stupid and unreliable and a bit obsessive and clumsy, I guess."

W-What! Laurie-san sure had weird taste. But then, why was she blushing so red? Even though her skin was tanned, a light coffee colour, the redness was still so clear on her face.

Was this stupid, unreliable, obsessive, clumsy person the one Laurie liked?

* * *

"Jeez, Kyoya! Can't you walk just a little bit slower?" Emiko complained. Walking up a steep hill was really doing a number on her calves. "I'm not the endurance type…"

"The sooner we get there, the sooner I get to take a nap." Kyoya said, hardly tired. All that fighting must have worked well for his endurance; it sure as hell didn't do anything for Emiko's though.

"Is that all you think of!" Emiko shouted from her position at least ten or so paces behind the prefect, "Argh! My thighs will be too tired to let you even think of napping on them!"

One way to get Hibari Kyoya to stop walking so fast, if you are Hanabara Emiko that is: threaten to not let him sleep on your lap, if you are Hanabara Emiko that is. Well, when Emiko finally managed to catch up with the fast paced boy he grabbed her porcelain wrist before yanking her further up the mountain, practically dragging her up.

"This isn't what I meant!" Emiko said just as she stubbed her toe on a rock for about the third time.

"At least this way your complaining won't get in my way." Kyoya grumbled, manoeuvring swiftly around the bumps and rocks, something Emiko was not able to do, "Just hurry it up."

"I can't help it! I suck when it comes to hiking and stuff that involves long distances! I came last in my cross country!" Emiko puffed from behind him, her breaths coming out even quicker than before, "Even the guy in the wheel chair beat me!"

"That's none of my concern right now." Kyoya said just as gazed back to the map, trying to figure out how long it would take to reach the bloody destination.

"Try to care a little more, Kyoya!" Emiko said stressing every syllable of his given name, her voice tired and ragged, way too exhausted to care about how each sound slurred on her tongue.

He suddenly stopped in his tracks, the leaves making a terrible crunch under his suddenly stopping feet. Emiko, too wobbly and jelly-like to notice, banged right into Kyoya. A Kyoya that was clad in only a white singlet top pants that barely reached below his knees. Cue terribly red face.

"E-Eh? Kyoya? W-What are you-?" His hand reached out, grasping her shoulder, his hand sneaky, sly, snatching, "H-Hey give that back!"

"You won't have any complaints now, will you? If you do, I will surely bite you to death." Kyoya threatened smoothly, balancing her pack in his hand, taking her hand in the other.

"But it's heavy!" Emiko said, hands trying to grab at the bag he had in deathly grip, "I can't make you carry my stuff."

"Just watch me, Emiko." Kyoya said leaning towards her already red face, from heat, exhaustion and embarrassment all slipped into one, "You can't stop me." He had already started walking, his pace barely slowed from the one just minutes ago, even with the extra weight in his hands, "I can do whatever I want."

"You're so immature!"

* * *

The moon was an opal in the sky surrounded by twinkling diamonds, a stone that could only be illuminated by some sort of magic, a magic know as sun rays that allowed it to truly shine, showing its array of colours and sides. Well, that's what Aoi liked to believe. Out here in the outdoors, the moon really was twice as beautiful, making her really want to think that there was magic at work.

It was so peaceful right now, perfect for moon gazing. Yes, you heard right. Moon gazing. Not star gazing, not cloud watching, just moon gazing. The moon was like a princess or perhaps a fairy, only truly illuminated at night, where the sun acted as a fairy godmother, nothing else could look more beautiful than the moon if it was night time.

A breeze, the waterfall gushing next to her and only the sound of trees rustling was all terribly cliché but was all also terribly perfect, just out of a novel. Or maybe out of a ballet. Tonight seemed like the perfect night for Diana to leap out in all her beauty, doing a series of jumps, leaps and turns, just like in Sylvia. Or maybe Odette or Odile would show up, basking in the beauty of moon, their feathers glowing in the iridescence, showing off their strength and grace in just several movements.

Today was such a hassle, something that was so calming and peaceful was just what she wanted. To dream about ballet. To let the characters of different ballets wash over her mind and dance in her memory. An escape, a break, a breather. Something along those lines.

_Especially _after that stupid, stupid, stupid egg mayonnaise sandwich.

Yes, a simple, _normal_ sandwich was the root of all her problems. When the group had arrived at their promised place, the stupid two pieces of break with eggs and mayonnaise sandwiched together was all that awaited her for dinner. She scrambled up mountains and rocky paths and all she received was a 253 calorie egg mayo sandwich. That's right; she knew exactly how many calories were in that deceivingly innocent sandwich. She'd rather starve than eat it. Plus, she hated mayonnaise, what other reason do you need? Mayonnaise was super fattening and tasted terrible, there was nothing more to it.

So instead, Takeshi gave her his apple. Well, that kind of helped. Kind of. It would've helped a heap more Yuuki didn't start arguing and then suddenly there was a whole argument about sleeping arrangements. Well, not really argument. More like a one-sided debate on who would sleep in the middle.

It should've been obvious but of course, boys are anything but smart. It took them half an hour to actually find out that it should be her sleeping in the middle, squashed between the two highly attractive boys but who cared? Boys will be boys, nothing anybody could do about it.

"Getting fresh air?"

She should've gotten used to it but Takeshi's surprise random appearances from behind never failed to almost scare her out of her mind. And it didn't help that she was clad in her pyjamas, also known as a long top that reached to her thighs and that was it. Well, maybe it was one of those not so helpful but not so unhelpful things. He'd seen her in her pyjamas. No stress. Right?

"J-Just a bit." Aoi said taking her eyes away from Takeshi, dressed in only a simple top and boxers. Just chill. Calm. Breathe. "What are you doing up so late?"

No right. She was totally losing her cool. Stressing out even. Alone, kind of, in a forest, at night. Why did it have to sound so kinky in her mind?

"I don't know." Takeshi said as he climbed up onto the rock Aoi was currently sitting on, taking a place right next to her, sitting in a nonchalant fashion, typical Takeshi, "But I suddenly woke up and you weren't there so I went to check it out."

"Really? Sorry." Aoi apologised, slightly, not entirely, just slightly. Her light coloured hand spotted his tanned pinkie, her own reaching out little by little, careful to watch out for the sharp edges of the rough surfaces, a dangerous criminal sneaking its way into a heavily guarded bank on a moonlit night, "I didn't mean to make you worry or anything."

"It's alright. I guess I also wanted to speak to you alone." Takeshi Said laughing, his eyes gazing up to the same moon she had been so peacefully mesmerised by. The thief stopped, halting its procedures, shock and confusion clouding it. Unknowingly, his hand sneaked a little further towards hers, the treasure wanting to escape its confinements, a prisoner in its own protections, to be free, to see something new perhaps.

"You're acting a bit weird, Takeshi." Aoi said tilting her head, the criminal retreating just a step before proceeding a little more, stopping once again, "Is something wrong?"

"It's not like anything's wrong!" Takeshi said bashfully, raising one hand up in a defensive gesture, the one that wasn't creeping slowly to Aoi's that is, "It's just I feel like I'm not really your friend like I think I am."

"W-What?" Aoi exclaimed, louder than she expected, not too loud though, "You can't be serious. Don't joke like that."

"I'm not joking or anything it's just…" Takeshi paused, silently, the breeze the only accompaniment, her hand slowly slinked away and so did his, perhaps such freedom for the treasure was too much and such a crime was too risky for the thief, "I feel that I really don't know anything about you." He placed his hand, the treasure that was locked up all too tightly, against his forehead before replacing it on the rock, in a tempting place right by the thief, her hand, "Your favourite food, your middle name or even your birthday. I feel kind of bad."

"When did you ever start stressing about things like that?" With one brave breath the thief touched it, gently, barely; their pinkies connected by just the edges, hooked, kind of, "It didn't bother you before." The reflection in the moonlit water below them, just below their dangling feet, showed an emotionless expression strewn across her face, caught between yes and no, "What happened?"

"It's nothing…" Takeshi said scratching his head, a nervous habit perhaps. Then he caught the look in her eyes, the plain blue mirrors reflecting back his own nervous smile, his own lying smile. He turned back to the water, inching his hand closer, their pinkie fingers completely overlapped, completely caught together, "Kagome made me realise I really don't know anything about you…"

"You're worried over something like that?" Aoi asked softly, direct but not blatant, "It's no big deal, right?" Just a little closer, ring fingers were now touching, almost there. "You'll find out more about me, vice versa. Isn't that what's meant to happen with friends?"

"But I feel like…" How to put it into words? "I feel like…" It seemed all so jumbled up in his brain. No wonder he didn't usually like thinking, "Like there's a gap between the two of us or something. I don't know." Oh what the hell, just go with instincts. Instincts, "And I just don't like it."

"A gap, huh?" Aoi pondered a little, looking back up to the full shimmering moon, "You felt it too…" Her eyes followed down back to the water, where rays of moonlight shone down, "Honestly, I felt it ever since we had that fight." She moved her hand closer, feeling the warmth from his hand, "It felt like something broke, I guess. And ever since it…"

"I guess we really needed this talk, huh?" Takeshi said pulling off a smile, more like a grin, not totally a smile.

"Five." Aoi said simply, holding up her free hand, all five fingers on display.

"What?" He obviously did not get the message.

"You ask me five questions and I'll ask you five questions, after that we have to figure out the rest ourselves. Sound good?" Aoi said sounding strict yet with the warmth of her hand moving more and more over his, it sounded completely different to his ears.

"Yup!" When the true genuine smile stretched upon his features, Aoi couldn't help but blush and turn away, only going a deeper shade of red as he took full grasp of her hand, intertwining fingers completely. The treasure was ready to leave its home, its imprisonment.

"Stupid head." Aoi felt the urge to slap him but decided against it, might as well not ruin the moment, "Ask away. You're the one that's getting all worked up about it."

"Uhh…" Takeshi tapped his chin with his available hand. He shouldn't ask about the stuff he already knew, right? Even though they weren't exactly from her… Oh stop thinking so hard! Instincts! Instincts! "Which do you like better, peaches or strawberries?"

"That's a weird question, don't you think?" Aoi asked sarcastically, rolling her eyes. Takeshi wanted to look away in embarrassment of the stupid question, even for him, but then he saw the slight giggle that was lightly laughing on her lips, "Wouldn't normal people ask what my favourite fruit is?" She lifted a sceptical eye brow, accentuating her point with a slight movement of her head, "And wouldn't the first question you ask me be something like my favourite food or middle name or my birthday? You mentioned them before…"

"Umm…" Takeshi stumbled over his words; he couldn't say that he knew it all already.

"Let me guess, Yuuki told you, didn't he? That's why you feel like you know nothing about me." Aoi guessed and judging by the look on Takeshi's face, she was correct. She shook her head, _idiot_, "I'm not an idiot, you know."

"B-But it really is good to get to know you!" Takeshi said trying to get her attention back.

"I know, I know." She gave his hand a light squeeze, washing relief over his face, "So, you probably know that my favourite foods at peach ice cream and strawberry tarts, right?" He shook his head, smile brightening up the dark night, "But you know, actually, my favourite fruits are apples. Strawberries and peaches are nice in desserts but alone they have a lot of flaws. Apples are the best by themselves." Her eyes slid half closed, not of tiredness, not of exhaustion, but of peace, quiet and tranquillity, "My turn. What _did _he tell you about me?"

"Uhh… Right off the bat…" Takeshi stared at the moon, a solace, well, not really. It was better than staring right into her eyes though. Also, staring up sometimes helped him think. Sometimes. He counted off on his free hand, "Your birthday, favourite food, middle name, allergies, favourite colours, hobbies and… umm, hometown."

"So you know then." It was his turn to tighten his grip, "I was born in Namimori." Aoi moved just a bit closer, making the physical gap between their bodies shrink, "Want me to tell you something that Yuuki doesn't know? Free of charge."

"Sure." Takeshi let the corners of his smile widen as he moved closer as well. Just their hands weren't enough, apparently.

"I like the moon a lot." Aoi said suddenly making Takeshi whip his head towards Aoi, a confused stare never leaving his brown eyes, "It's the kind of like that a fairy godmother has for a princess. Or the would-be princess anyway." Aoi stared up to the moon, the opal almost staring back at her, "That probably makes no sense." Aoi let a laugh dance on her lips, "I guess you could say as much I like princesses, I would rather be the fairy godmother that lets the princess shine." She ran her free hand over her red-brown hair, feeling the knots and tangles, "It really doesn't make sense, does it?"

"Er… Kind of?" Takeshi tried to reason, honestly, he had no idea how to decipher what she had just said.

"You'll understand one day, I guess. It's really weird, I know." Aoi said, her lips turning to a peaceful smile, the corners just curving slightly. She turned to Takeshi, letting the moonlight bathe over her, an almost sunlight effect, "You know, I take it back. That's gonna cost you, as much as it doesn't make sense." She tilted her head, a small giggle escaping, "So, it's my turn again." Suddenly, she looked serious, a firm line settling on her lips, a forlorn look nestling in her eyes, "Do you know what it's like to like someone?"

"Uh… Repeat?" He laughed, just _what _kind of like was she speaking of?

"When your chest starts beating really fast and you get all excited, you feel like something's about to explode, it's all warm and fuzzy but all fluttery and tickly… something like that." Aoi said searching for the right words, placed on the tip of her tongue but not coming out correctly.

"The one that makes girls leave love letters in my locker?" Takeshi asked seriously, remembering each and every broken heart and crying face.

"Maybe. Not really, but it's kind of like that." Aoi thought about, she couldn't really tell but it seemed miles away from what she was describing yet only inches away, "There's a fine line between them but there's a difference but there are a lot of similarities."

"If it's that kind of like then I guess I really don't have a clue about what it is." Takeshi stared into the water, before seeing a splatter. A ripple. A droplet. Something fell into the water. Rain? Tears. "Hey, Aoi are you okay?"

"Just dust. It's only dust. The stupid wilderness has too much dust. It's making my eyes water." Aoi wiped at her eye, feeling the moisture on the back of her hand. Just dust? That's such a joke. What was she expecting? She _knew _he wouldn't have a clue. And she knew exactly why. So, just what was she expecting him to say?

Like lightning striking, a sudden movement, a flash, he wrapped his free arm around her lower back, an enveloping embrace. A blood curdling feeling rippled through every vein, every artery in her body. The absolute climax when the audience wonders 'what will happen?', 'is she dead?', 'will they be together?'. A play, a ballet, a drama.

One question. One simple question racked her mind and body.

Did he figure it out?

"Aoi just suddenly looked really sad and huggable that I couldn't help it." Takeshi said in an almost nonchalant fashion, completely ignorant to what he was spouting, as usual.

"That's so stupid, idiot." He would've let go if it weren't for the sneaking, snaking arm that gripped onto the back of his shirt which he relaxed at. She took a deep breath, ragged in a way she never thought it would be, the type when a person attempted to stop crying. He rubbed smooth circles on the back of her hand, a technique he learned from his mother whenever he was sad, both soothing and calming, a loving gesture. "I can't believe you just told me I'm huggable. It sounds like I'm some stuffed animal or something."

"I don't know but you seemed like you needed a hug and then I just did." Aoi could imagine him rubbing the back of his head in a 'I have no clue!' fashion if his arms weren't around her, "You seem really huggable these days so I decided to try it out."

"That's so cheesy." Aoi commented, resting her forehead on his shoulder, hearing his heartbeat from the point in his neck, "_This _is so cheesy." Aoi gestured to whole concept of what they were doing, "Embarrassing too." She squeezed his hand, knowing he could feel her trembling digits. She closed her azure eyes, feeling at peace with the steady pace of his tranquil heartbeat, "But I guess it's okay…" She didn't notice her phone going off, the vibration and alert noise that a new text message had come in, and Takeshi didn't feel like telling her, "…if it's from you."

She felt herself drift off into fantasy land, a place where her dreams resided. Where graceful ballerinas leaped and twirled across the stage of her dreams. Where twinkling moons stole the night away, stealing people's breaths. And where one Yamamoto Takeshi knew just what it meant to like someone.

"Goodnight, Aoi."

* * *

"_Just sleep with one for these few nights unless you want your boobs to sag around Hibari. That would be embarrassing . _

_I'm starving~ Stupid egg mayo sandwich… _

_OMG, I'm so exhausted. Boys are so stupid… you know Yuuki was spazzing over who would sleep in the middle for half an hour? And Takeshi, the clueless idiot, didn't know either? It was sooooo dumb._

_Sleep early, you know how you get when you sleep late _

_Oh, by the way… the moon is really pretty tonight. Full and everything 3. Take a look before you go to sleep. Random, I know. _

_Take care. Night xoxo"_

Emiko read over the text message once more, smiling at the different smiley faces and expressions. Aoi sure had a way with texting. It was surprising there was reception though. At least this way she and Aoi could keep in touch and she could make sure Yuuki didn't pull anything funny on her.

The moon really was beautiful, when Emiko managed to steal a glance. Full and glistening. Kyoya's ivory skin looked like it was glowing in the moonlight as well. She almost giggled at the thought of how people thought he was devil. When he was almost glowing it was very hard to believe he was a devil at all.

"Would you care to stop staring?" Kyoya asked rhetorically, lifting a well shaped eyebrow, lips set in a familiar line.

"Sorry, sorry. I was just thinking how a guy could look pretty the way you do." Emiko laughed. She just called a guy _pretty_. "It's almost unfair."

A large rough hand wasted no time to shove her head. She kept her smile, knowing exactly what he was going to say, "Want to say that again?"

"It's a compliment, I swear." Emiko defended, flailing her arms, "But you can take it that way if you want…" She snuck in a snicker, she was feeling surprisingly cheeky, "But you know in this moonlight you look like an angel or something." She leaned back against the tree they were sitting by, "You almost don't seem like you."

"And you don't seem to be as stressed as usual." Kyoya pointed out, noticing how there wasn't any drama coinciding with her features, well not any of the drama he seemed to be seeing much more of these days.

Emiko blushed crimson, glad that the partial shade of tree would hide it, "T-Thanks…" Her mind snapped back to reality, "B-But it's not like I'm stressed or anything… it's just that…"

"When you're grumpy or irritated it means you're stressed which means you don't let me do as I please." Kyoya said grumpily, turning his head on her lap, trying once again to find a more comfortable position on her thighs, "It gets annoying."

"Sorry, Kyoya. I've just had a lot happening. With Oji-sama and stuff. It's nothing much…" Emiko tried to brush off, remembering their previous argument in the last week of school.

"All that nonsense about lies is not 'nothing much'." Kyoya added simply, closing the slate-blue eyes that he knew were staring her down, or up from his position.

Emiko looked down at her phone, her fingers, almost automatically, typing a response. She turned her head back to Kyoya, "Maybe it's time to head into the tent." She wanted to quickly change the subject, "It's getting kind of cold…"

"Five more minutes." Kyoya grumbled under his breath like a silly little school boy not wanting to go to school, "And don't change the subject, Emiko."

"I'm not really changing the subject…" She sweeped a stray hair behind her ear, her usual plaits placed in loops, rings clipped up for more comfortable sleeping, "Mm… That's a good wind." She breathed in the scent of breeze, like a minty refresher with a pint of roses, "Okay, that was changing the subject but I can't help it." She smiled, looking down at the sombre looking Kyoya, "I just like the wind too much."

"Don't make me repeat myself." Kyoya said irritably, it wasn't like he didn't already know, before turning to look up at her, through her eyes, through her fake blue-green eyes.

"Before you say anything, what I'm about to say isn't off topic." She felt her slim fingers run through his short strands, almost out of habit, "If I told you we wouldn't be able to spend every day the way we do now, what would you do?"

"Bite you to death." Kyoya said simply like it was the most obvious thing in the world and apparently to Emiko it did seem like it.

"That's so like you." Emiko sent him one of her smiles, not bright, not sad, soft like a gentle breath of wind, "Then one more thing…" She leaned down, their heads parallel, two lines destined to never meet, "Maybe it would be better for us to separate after a little while."

Silence. Unwelcoming and hostile. It bit at them like an oppressive heat. A snapping summer without a breeze in sight. A desert with no chance of flourishing. No oasis in sight. Not a path in sight. Anything cooling nothing but a dream. Any life dissipated. Without heat nothing can grow. Too much heat and it dies out. The silence picked away, slower and slower, a biting heat with not even a single second of a cloud looming over, allowing a small gust of wind to pass through.

"Don't joke like that." Then dangerously, it loomed, steadily and lowly. Crackling, smoking. Filled with anger and heat. No wind, of course. Too heated, too tension-filled. No wind would pass. Only more and more sweltering mugginess. "…don't joke like that." Kyoya sat up, either arms by her head, pinning her head against the tree, "It's not funny at all." Shoulders hunched, slowly, an awaited cool breeze passed, ticking her neck, "Don't _ever _say that again."

"I…" She could barely get words out of her throat, it was almost like her throat was parched, "I'm just…"

"Don't." He leaned closer, settling with resting his head on her shoulder, fingernails digging into rough bark, "It won't happen."

"You can't say that. You… can't…" In the loose embrace she felt herself melting, "Not… not when you don't know."

"I can do as I please, Emiko. So, don't ever joke like that again." He growled onto her shoulder and she could feel his cooling breath down her shirt, "I won't let it happen." His teeth gritted as he pushed closer to her, "Ever."

Finally, she reached up, reciprocating his gesture, hiding tears, sorrows and guilt. She bit back a sob, a sob of knowing that _it would never happen_. She pressed her skull against his shirt, before lifting it up again to wipe her semi dry eyes. Out came not only tears but two soft one day coloured contacts. She didn't notice, barely, it was just suddenly more comfortable to see. Orange tinted with brown eyes filled before she blinked all the tears out, glad he couldn't see her face right now.

Her phone, laying forgotten on the grass was already sending the incomplete message. Perhaps her hand, or maybe his, had accidentally pressed the send button.

"_Ah! It really is! So pretty! 3 must be because it's exactly two lunar months before the mid-autumn festival… But it really is so pretty!_

_I'll try it out but if I get some sort of boob problem later in life I'm blaming you, Aoi-chan!_

_Boys will be boys, can't really change that, haha. Just try to bear with them. They may be stupid but… who knows? Have fun! _

_Don't starve just because you don't like the food! Don't die Aoi-chan! Remember to eat all your

* * *

_

"What do you mean you don't believe me?" Laurie poised a hand on her hip, the other pointing to the star filled sky, "I know each and every constellation there is to know! All 88 of 'em!" She pointed to a certain constellation, every bit of sureness laced into her tone, "That one is Andromeda! Look it up if you wanna!"

"I don't freaking care, Guérir!" Hayato could've thrown a few dynamites at her but every time he did, she dodged expertly and she somehow managed to redirect it at his boss. No harm done, of course.

"I'm just trying to prove my point, stupid Hayato." Laurie closed her eyes half way irritably, an effective technique she learned that really showed hot heated idiots that she was annoyed.

"S-So you really like stars don't you, Laurie-san?" Tsuna said trying to calm down the heated pair, putting up his hands defensively, just in case.

"Of course." Laurie turned to smile at Tsuna. Talk about bipolar. Mature one minute, playful the next and arguing within minutes. "My favourites are the zodiac constellations. The meaning they have are so spiritual and mystical." She smoothed out her dress, "It's all so cool."

"C-Cool?" When did stars become cool? They were romantic… occasionally. Ominous… sometimes. Cool? Not that Tsuna had ever heard of. "Does that mean you believe in those zodiac signs?"

"Of course I do!" Laurie placed her hands around her face, ready to go off into Laurie-land. Something Tsuna was starting to get accommodated with and he didn't really want to. "I love reading up on horoscopes. It's just as interesting as reading about all the poisonous plants in the world." Welcome to Laurie-land. "It's like there's the whole world written up there. And learning all about their history and discoveries is all so fascinating. It's like a fairy tale but in some language we don't about."

"No one wants to listen to you go on about stars and crap." Hayato growled, fed up with her. She went on too many tangents.

"You might not want to but he always wanted to." Laurie pointed out; she pointed her finger at Hayato like he was a silly little child. It was especially annoying seeing as they were the same age.

"The Tenth doesn't want to listen to your ramblings either!" Hayato said, ready to whip out a set of dynamite any second, the cigarette in his mouth just itching to light them up.

"I'm not talking about Decimo." Laurie said, she opened her eyes wide, as if snapping out of her fantasy land, "The person I'm talking about isn't Decimo." She shrugged her shoulders, "That guy is all logic and technical stuff." She made a face, showing her great dislike for the technical bits and pieces, "But he was the one that suggested that I should read up on stars and constellations." She closed her eyes, Tsuna and Hayato just waiting for her to exit reality once again, "He knows I love to read and learn about all that spiritual stuff so he suggested it to me… And he's always willing to listen to me even though I go on forever…" She looked up to the twinkling stars that were smiling down to her, "That guy… he really knows me too well."

* * *

And we are done and that was so long it wasn't funny. Hope you liked it! Yes, I have added in a new character I bet you are all going "another one?" all whiny like. Well, I'll warn you now, there are six more coming. In moderation. Kind of. Not really. Oh and Laurie… is a relatively new concept that I thought of but she fit in quite nicely. And she wasn't in the previews, by the way. If you're all wondering. Haha.

Feeling rather spiritual and symbolic today… hmm… haha! Especially with the 8042 and 1828 moments…

By the way! Laurie has a number! She is 63! I'm not putting up who her partner is though because it's supposed to be a mystery but you guys will probably guess it before that… sigh…

Review please. Advice wanted! I will put up a sign!

By the way, thinking of deleting chapter one. Kind of hated it. I'll add in a few details here and there to fill up the hole but the other chapters kind of fill it in even without it. Tell me what you think.

Finish the sentence! (if you want):

Winter Moon, Spring Stars, Summer Wind, Autumn…

I wanna see what you guys can think of See what fits.

Review!

Thanks!

**(1): **Means like "Miss Princess". Well, kind of. "Hime" means princess and "-san" means miss.

**(2)**: You all probably know but it means "Thank you, thank you, sir."

**(3)**: It's "Oleander" in Romaji. I just wanted to differentiate Japanese and English


	8. Chapter 8

I think I cursed myself. I wrote Aoi with 4 blisters last chapter and lo and behold I have FIVE FREAKING BLISTERS ON MY TOES! IT HURTS OKAY! Yeah, so that will teach me not to write like that… remind me next time not to write characters with blisters or karma will just go SMACK and give me like heaps of them… I will officially take up the occupation blister farmer, I will be stinking rich. Haha.

By the way, I edited chapter 1. Tell me what you guys think

Also, just had exams. Sorry for the late. Year ten kills.

Well, onto the story, I bet you've heard enough of my complaining…

CHANGED THE TITLE BTW. Tell me what you think :)

* * *

It was all a little awkward. All a little strange. Perhaps even a little clumsy. A slim pair of reading glasses perched on her nose, eyes buried in a thick paperback book. Her eyes absorbed every word, every letter of the tiny text, the old yellowing pages caught between her fingers. Dark circles lay beneath teal eyes, drooping lids refusing to close completely, to let sleep overcome her body.

The sun shone slightly onto the pages, brightening up the words and pages, a heavenly light enlightening her to the wonders of the novel in her hands. She put down the torch light, letting the artificial light fade away and let the sun rays guide her eyes across every line.

"Laurie-san?"

Laurie almost jumped out of her skin, if it were even possible. The book dropped from her hands, her green hair doing somersaults on her shoulders. Out from her pocket, she hadn't even changed from her day clothes, a silver pendant on a long chain leaped out, rolling on the foliage covered ground. Engraved on the front was an emblem, a crest, something alike to the Vongola crest yet different, strikingly similar but so infinitely off.

As it bounced and rolled, the ground pressed the button on the top, flipping the cover open revealing a clock. The hands were delicate and intricate, swirled and curved. As the second hand ticked by, second by second, a soft tune played, each note accentuated and harmonized. A suspenseful melody line, hanging on every note before moving onto the next, a tension before a resolution.

Tsuna scrutinized the sight of Laurie as she scrambled for the fallen pocket watch strung on a necklace chain, her fingers panicking over the music playing clock. She held the item against her chest, a treasured jeweled, a prized pearl, shutting the lid, the music leaving them with only a lonely silence.

"Lau-"

"So, Decimo, what're you doin' up so early?" She pocketed the necklace, looking back with a tired smile. She stretched her arms a little bit, feigning a yawn on her lips, "Ah~ I'm so bloody tired. Shouldn't have stayed up all night…"

"Why did you stay up all night, Laurie-san?" Tsuna asked calmly, deciding to drop the subject. A wise choice, a very wise choice.

"Oh! I got to the climax of my book and it was exhilaratin' and I wouldn't be able to sleep if I put it down! But it just kept on gettin' better and better! So it was like my eyes were glued to the page!" She stuck out her tongue playfully, knocking her fist lightly against her skull, almost expecting to hear a dull thumping noise, "I always forget to sleep like that!"

"How can you forget to sleep!" Tsuna panicked, picking yet another one of Laurie's awkward and most strange qualities.

"I always do that, it's no biggie." Laurie said waving it off, her eyes giving him a look of 'it's not that big of deal, jeez~'. Laurie glanced down at the watch that wound around her wrist, "_Oh shit_! Reborn told me we had to be ready by 9! It's almost 8:30!" Laurie ran over to the tent which Hayato was soundlessly sleeping, almost flipping the tent over as she yanked the flap open, "Wake up ya stupid Hayato! We gotta leave in half an hour and you're still sleepin' like a baby! Get up already!"

"Shut it, Guérir!" Hayato groaned, throwing a pillow mixed with a stick of dynamite, talk about dangerous.

Laurie caught the stick blowing out the fuse before any explosions could occur, "If you don't get up Reborn's gonna get super pissed, I swear!" She sighed, no use getting worked up about this case.

Instead, she slipped into her Italian tongue before letting out a string of Italian words, only causing the bomber to get up faster than possible, face beet read with embarrassment. Oh, she was gonna enjoy this. With the slyest of smiles she let out a few more words, her slick Italian only causing him to get redder and redder. He glared at her through green glazed eyes, only watching her half lidded eyes belligerently tempt him, her words, sentences and phrases not stopping for a second.

"Okay, okay, I'm up!" Hayato said stomping out of the tent, shoving her out of the way, his hand pushing her by her tanned shoulder, "Just shut the fuck up!"

"I'd wash that hand if I were you!" Laurie called out in a sing-song voice, knowing it was only making him even more pissed as he walked over to his stuff to get ready, "You just might get a _really _bad stomachache and almost die from food poisoning!"

"Laurie-san, what did you tell him exactly?" Tsuna asked, worrying over his angered, irritated and clearly flustered friend.

"Now, that's a secret, Decimo." Laurie said with a finger to her lips, sending him another one of her eye smiles, a wink with simple teal eyes, "Well, I better get my make up done."

* * *

"Since when have you two been so close?" Yuuki said, noticing the scene that belied before him, the picture perfect moment scratching at his eyes, almost gauging them out as the image stung in his mind.

"What're you talking about?" Takeshi asked in all cluelessness, not meaning any harm or offense as he devoured the food on his plate. It was thoughtful of the kid to leave them breakfast. Thoughtful or not, he wouldn't be thinking so soon after what he sees later.

"I'm talking about _that_." Yuuki said pointing an accusing finger at the red haired blue eyed girl's head that was resting, seemingly sleeping, on the baseball idiot's shoulder, her messy hair spilling over his shoulders not her own.

"Don't talk as if I'm not here." Aoi said popping an eye open before slipping it closed again and sitting it up straight, stretching her tired back, "I was tired." She yawned quietly before getting up, walking over to her bag that was lying by a tree, "We talked too long, Takeshi. I'm dead tired now."

"Sorry, sorry." Takeshi apologized, a laugh resonating on his lips, "If you were tired you could just tell me." He scratched the back of his neck as he saw her sigh. He knew that sigh by now. It was the 'what was I doing again?' sigh, always readily accompanied by her eyes that were meandering over the area, a hand on the back of her head as she tried to remember and her back slightly arched out of habit. He'd seen it every morning when they woke up, it was almost natural for him to pick it up. In fact it was almost instinct for him to pick out her habits, little by little. "You should just take a nap later. I'll lend you my shoulder again if you want."

"Don't worry about me so much." Aoi said simply, before leaning over her colossal bag, fishing out a brush and a hair tie, obviously planning on taming her bed hair, "Stop worrying about me for once and worry about yourself, stupid."

"I just can't help it." Takeshi said as he finished the last of his breakfast, almost chuckling in amusement as Aoi attempted to pull her tangled hair up, only for several tails of hair to slip out of her grip.

"I'm not four." Aoi retorted quickly, huffing in slight annoyance as her hair escaped her hands, more messy strands resting on her shoulders. Holding up the elastic band between two fingers she tried in one last attempt to capture the stubborn locks, only to fail with long tendrils curtaining her eyes like a makeshift fringe, "Oh, I give up." She blew the hair out of her face, sitting ungracefully next to Takeshi, "Stupid hair…"

"You don't have to tie it up." Takeshi said simply, his fingers playing with the ends of her long red locks, "I think it looks prettier this way."

"Prettier? I look like someone electrocuted me." Aoi bit back icily, a glare dancing in her blue eyes.

Takeshi continued to fiddle with her hair, his hands moving up her back, earning a slight shiver from her, "You okay?"

"I don't know what you're talking about." Aoi feigned ignorance, turning away, her face tinged with the slightest of crimsons.

"If anything's wrong…" His voice trailed off slightly, his hand venturing up even further, nearing her neck and shoulders. Her arms twitched.

"N-Nothing's wrong." Aoi said abruptly, her azure eyes still avoiding all kinds of eye contact, instead finding much more interesting company in the leaves on the ground.

Watching as if from another planet, Yuuki knew exactly what was wrong. He'd touched her there before, earning him a high pitched squeal, a punch in the arm and one Koizumi Aoi on the ground.

"Are you sure?" Takeshi asked worried, noticing her slightly twitching limbs. His fingers continued climbing, entangled in burgundy tresses, brushing the edge of her shoulders.

A high pitched noise erupted from her lips, her fingers moving in awkward movements.

Wait.

Did Aoi just squeak?

"Aoi, are you…?"

"I-I'm fine."

His fingers lightly touched her neck.

An even louder squeak.

A head full of red-brown buried in his chest.

"Aoi…?"

"O-Okay, okay!" Her voice staggered and she blushed the deepest shade of red ever seen, "My tickle spot is my neck, okay? I always get like this when someone touches my neck or shoulders." She bit her lip and pulled away from him, "It's embarrassing so don't tell anyone."

Takeshi grinned brightly. Taking in her red face, averted eyes, bitten lip and slightly raised shoulders. It was like the image was burning to be written into his brain. It pushed the little math he memorized, the little English he bothered to remember and the miniscule amount of history jammed in there away, temporarily replacing them with the sight. Just another expression he'd taken note of.

Just another thing he learned about her.

* * *

"You've got to be kidding me." Emiko stared wide eyed and in disbelief at the rocky wall that lay before her eyes.

That baby that she dared call uncle expected them to climb _this thing_? No way in hell could she ever get up there and not faint. How could _anyone _get up that high up the stupid thing and not want to curl up into a little ball? Like seriously, what if they fell or something? That blasted hitman didn't even bother to leave safety gear.

The wall seemed to reach endlessly up to the sky; it probably went higher than the school! Oh god… This is why she demanded Lal let them live on the fourth floor of their building. She couldn't take any higher. And this wall could've stretched like… ten.

"Er… Kyoya, how about we take a detour…?" Emiko said frantically trying to figure a detour, this wall stretched out like the Great Wall of China. It never ended. Leave it up to Reborn to create an obstacle ten floors high with no safety gear and make it the only option available, "Like this doesn't seem very safe…"

"You're afraid of heights, aren't you?" Kyoya pointed out, clearly not intimidated by the high climbing course.

"Ugh…" She tried to search for a believable lie but none came, "Fine… I admit it. Anything higher than four storey's high makes me want to cry." She tried to open a small smile on her face, "And just because I can jump off a three storey building doesn't mean a bloody 10 storey wall doesn't make me want to crawl into a little ball shape." She paused for a moment before deciding to go on, "Because it kind of does, by the way."

"I don't see you crawling." Kyoya teased, enjoying that he had found another one of her weaknesses. In the town of Namimori with only low rise buildings, it could only be now that he could find her fear of heights. Talk about lucky.

"You're supposed to comfort me, Kyoya!" Emiko scolded lightly, trying to regain her composure, something very hard to do with the object of her attention for the past few months almost laughing at her phobia, "It's not funny!"

"Who knew you had a herbivore like fear…" Kyoya could barely word out, causing Emiko to want to curl into a tiny fetus position just to escape his ridicule.

"Well, not everyone has no fears, okay!" She wanted just run away and she really just about ready to sprint off.

"Hurry up, let's go." Kyoya said before taking a hold of her wrist, still bemused by her complete and utter fear of heights. Who knew?

"Wait-! No!"

* * *

"Oh, I wouldn't touch those Decimo," Laurie pointed out for the umpteenth time, "you might get a terrible stomachache that lasts about," She tapped her head, tapping into the hidden database of constellations and poisons stored in her mind, "forty-two hours…"

Tsuna leaped away from plant she was pointing at. That had been the fourteenth plant, he'd counted, that she'd told him to beware of. It seemed that any plant that had something even vaguely discolored – _purple roots, blue leaves, yellow stems_ – was somehow a danger to his health. Hayato would've probably blown off her head if she hadn't dodged all bombs thrown at her _and _saved his stomach, throat and right leg several times by ushering him away from certain plants. Even he had to admit that she came in handy sometimes.

Not to mention she somehow carried the cure to most known poisons in the world on her person. She'd chucked him a vile with an ominous looking concoction inside when he'd accidentally scraped his arm against a plant that could apparently make his arm swell up to the size of a pillow if he left it untreated. True to her point, just seconds later his arm was slightly purple and already larger than it was moments ago. The dark liquid she had thrown him had managed to reduce the swelling and return his skin back to the usual ivory, which he begrudgingly thanked her for – with much urging from his boss of course.

"Laurie-san…?" Tsuna said cautiously.

"Yes, Decimo?" Laurie answered, fighting her way through the thick bushes.

"Y-Your arm…"

Laurie looked at her forearm where a gash lay, created from her struggle with plant life. Expertly, she pulled out an orange thorn, tiny and tinged with white, shining in the sunlight. She chucked it away before continuing on with her battle against nature, her hands grabbing at the branches to try and get along the path, creating an open space for Hayato and Tsuna to walk behind her.

"Um, Laurie-san?"

"Yes~?" She replied in a sing-song voice, clearly not disturbed by the laceration on her arm.

"What about your arm?" Tsuna asked worriedly, wondering how she could be so calm after being stabbed with the same thorn that had made Hayato's arm swell in seconds.

"Don't worry about it." Laurie said smiling back at her boss, "I'll just clean the wound later."

"But didn't you tell Gokudera-kun that…"

"Me and Smokin' Bomb ain't the same, Decimo." She continued on her way, not looking back once, not sparing a glance at either Hayato or Tsuna, "Not even you and me are the same."

"What're you talking about, Guérir!" Hayato finally snapped, obviously annoyed at her nonchalance even with the Tenth's worry.

"My arm won't swell like a normal person's. If that says anything." Laurie said simply, pulling another bush out of the way.

"I don't…" Tsuna stopped his sentence to stare at her arm, clearly still the same tanned colour and still as thin as ever. He noticed an orange looking oil running down her arm and landing on the forest floor, rushing out of the gash on her arm, "What's that, Laurie-san?" He pointed, his finger close to the liquid leaving trails on her hand and fingers.

"Don't touch that, Decimo." Laurie said smiling, turning back to finally face him, "Your arm might swell up."

"What are you going on about, woman!" Hayato huffed, almost emitting smoke out of his ears.

"It's the poison." Laurie held up her arm, pointing a manicured finger nail at the strange liquid on her arm, "So don't touch it…" She paused slightly. Searching back on her memories. Some painful. Some happy. Mostly filled with death and tears. Leaving her alone. Standing there, hands covered in colorful liquids and oils. "…or me."

Her eyes were sent downwards as she remembered every name, every face and every tear that resurfaced in her mind and burned in her eyes. She remembered that head full of red hair and teal eyes that matched her's. She remembered how he said she was his favourite girl ever, as his last words. She remembered when light faded from them. She remembered that she was the cause of all the hurt she felt. She remembered the way his death lead her to this path. She remembered he believed in her even as his heart stopped.

"I wasn't kidding when I said you might die."

* * *

"Don't you know what it means when a guy touches a girl's hair?" Yuuki asked in slight annoyance, his arms crossed and stance firm.

He'd told her he needed to talk to her _privately _so she told Takeshi to not worry and just keep the lead. Of course, reluctantly, the Japanese baseball lover walked out of earshot, clearing the path for her. For _her_. Not him. It wasn't stated. It was implied. Obvious enough. Just short of blatant but Yuuki knew the hints. So, the Rain guardian knew how to subconsciously act on jealousy. How unexpected. Perhaps his skull wasn't filled with air and baseballs.

"Of course I do." She continued walking, being careful of the twigs by her feet, tucking the stray hair behind her ear, "And of course I wouldn't just let anyone do it."

"Then why do you let him? He probably doesn't even know what it means." Yuuki pointed out, watching her back as she hiked along the path.

"It's because he doesn't know." Aoi replied, not a single hint of pondering. She'd thought this through the minute his fingers lingered on her tresses, "He's an idiot. He doesn't know the first thing about girls or relationships." She took a short breath. He knew that breath. She used to take one just like that around him. It was the happy, content and subconsciously, truly and totally smitten breath. "Maybe that's his charming point or something but since he doesn't know better I just let him do it."

"You're just letting yourself get lead on." Yuuki stated. It was fact. Not opinion. "Why?"

"I'm not getting lead on." She replied quickly, a slight change in pace in her voice, "_Because _I know he doesn't know better. I _know _he doesn't so technically I'm not letting myself think he's got something he doesn't." Aoi halted shortly, a small half-smile appeared with no hint of happiness or amusement present, "But to say I'm not wishing he does is a lie."

"Why are you just letting yourself get hurt then?" Yuuki tried to reach out with sincerity, his voice barely grazing the icy surface of her heart, "Isn't that painful?"

"I've gone through a lot of painful things, Yuuki." Aoi snapped back, a certain touch of frostbite embedded in her tone, "I'm not letting myself get hurt." She voice quieted, slightly, barely softening, "I'm just trying to be fine."

"Pretending to be fine with everything and letting yourself get hurt are the same thing!" Yuuki grabbed her upper arm, turning her to face him, her sticky skin feeling strangely warm in his palm, "Why are you doing this?"

"My feelings don't matter." Her words snapped at the air, eating up all the oxygen. It seemed like the world was draining of life for Yuuki, all he could see was fading colours, the only colours left in the dull world were a vibrant blue, burgundy and a pale tan. She turned away from him, the wind whistling in her ears and her voice finding itself lost, "I don't care if it hurts. I'm happy. It hurts _but I'm happy_."

"How could you be happy?" He sounded much more broken that he thought it would be. Worse than the worst. He grabbed her other arm, making her face him fully, her sweat caught between his fingers.

"I'm not so selfless as to say I'm happy when he's happy…" Aoi looked away, a quick breath getting caught in her throat, her nervousness shining through, "I get jealous. I want to keep him to myself. I get angry and annoyed." She listed them off with invisible fingers, opting to still avoid Yuuki's burning eyes, "But he makes me happy. Being with him makes me happy. I know it's stupid but when I'm around him I'm happy. I know it's painful but the fact is I'll be in even more pain if I'm not with him."

Silence greeted them. Brushing their fingertips and ears. The wind came and went, the leaves rustling between their feet. A bird called faraway but it seemed to be mute in their ears. It seemed like they were hearing with their eyes for no sound penetrated their senses. It was just endless quiet, a welcoming, warmth that enveloped them.

"So where does that leave you?" Yuuki was astounded by his own voice, his words were blending with the very silence. He took in her eyes as they shifted to look at him, he took on the way she briefly caught her bottom lip with her teeth and the way her mouth opened hesitantly to try and answer. Instead he grabbed the back of her neck pulled her against him, knowing that just the slightest movement of his fingers would send shivers up and down her spine. He dipped his head to her ear, lips brushing her ear lobe, "Where does that leave me?"

"What are you-" She never got the time to even think straight, let alone finish her sentence as his fingers ran the length of her neck, jolts fizzling through her entirety. "S-Stop it!" His fingers continued to brush up and down her neck, her knees already beginning to buckle.

"I know your weaknesses, Aoi." With just those words she felt his other hand reach behind her ear and caress it lightly, only causing her to officially lose all sense of focus, her body now in his control not her's, "Every single of your sensitive spots…" Her knees finally gave out, her neck and ear being her Achilles heel, "I know them all."

"I-I hate it. S-Stop it."

"_Stop it! It's embarrassing! People are watching, Ryuuki!"_

His fingers froze. His eyes widened.

"_People are watching, _Ryuuki._"_

His teeth clenched. His eyes narrowed. Why couldn't she get it!

With his grip loosened, she fell down to her knees, her body weak, like cooked noodles without a bowl or a pair of chopsticks.

"Do you hate me or do you hate _it_?"

"What are you going about?"

"I'm saying-"

"Aoi, are you okay?"

"Takeshi…"

His tanned hand touched her shoulder and helped her back to her feet, his eyes written with worry and something she couldn't quite decipher. She allowed the tiniest of smiles to grace her features, feeling both more and less herself.

"I'm fine." She replied quietly, "It's nothing."

His fingers slid down her arm, finally reaching the tips of her nails. Without warning he took her hand in his, curling his fingers in between her's. Before she could protest he was already tugging her along, guiding her through the path he had already cleared.

"Wouldn't want you to get injured, right?"He was worried about _that_?

"Yeah, I guess." Hesitating. Waiting. Anxious. Unsure. A bottle of nail polish mixed with dozens of other colours.

Yamamoto Takeshi could officially say he felt happier than when he hit a homerun when he felt Aoi's fingers curl around the space between his.

He flashed a look behind him, clearly not noticed by the silently embarrassed girl he was leading. Yuuki caught that look of confidence, that look of victory, that look of triumph. That very look Yuuki had carried those months ago when he caught other guys staring at Aoi, when he then nonchalantly wrapped an arm around her hip. That look that said _she's mine_. That look that put a claim around her. It was like an invisible leash he had latched around her wrist without her knowing. It was flexible and stretchy but was by no means weak. A leash that could alert him whenever some knuckle head decided to try and touch it. One that caused a bubbling sensation of simmering anger that quieted as soon as she gave him a small smile. As if responding that she was still _his_.

So, that clueless idiot really could feel possessive.

* * *

"Kyoya, are we there yet?" Emiko whined for the fiftieth time, her eyes were shut tightly as she clutched even tighter around his neck.

"Shut up or I'll bite you to death." Kyoya growled as he grabbed onto another rocky surface of the wall, pulling both him and Emiko up.

A light wind whistled past their ears and Emiko couldn't help but reflexively tighten her legs around his stomach, he felt like dropping her at any moment. He would make her lend him her lap for hours on end when they got to the next point.

"We're here."

"Are you sure?" Emiko slowly opened one eye, anxiety written into her coloured irises. With just one photographic moment, everything swirled and Emiko tightened her legs around Kyoya's middle, refusing to loosen. Her eyes squeezed shut and she couldn't help but almost squeeze all the air out of Kyoya, "Kyoya, you liar! I hate you!"

"I'll drop you." Kyoya couldn't help but tease. This new found phobia was one of the best discoveries he'd made.

"Okay, okay! I'll stop complaining! Let's just get down from here! Please!" She pleaded and begged, her warm breath ticking his ear and shoulders.

Wordlessly he followed her commands, clearly not having as much fun as he'd hoped. He started to climb down and felt her breath hitch subconsciously as she felt their decent. Just for fun he readjusted his back, making her gasp and squeeze even tighter. Just the way Tsukika had when he'd accompanied her to the doctor to get an injection. She'd squeezed her eyes shut when the doctor cleaned the needle. Held her breath as the needle touched her arm. All the while biting her lips and clenching his hand with all her might.

"Just like Tsuki."

"Are you thinking about Tachibana-san?" Emiko tightened around him without knowing, somehow feeling he'll disappear from her arms if she didn't. He didn't answer. He probably didn't know he let it slip. "You two sure are close. You must have known each other for a long time."

"Since 1 year."

"You've only known her 1 year!" Her voice was loud and piercing, almost bursting through her ears.

"Since I was 1 year old." Kyoya corrected, almost seeing the look of shock registering on her face, "We were neighbours. Our parents were acquaintances."

"That's nice." She smiled into his back, realizing there were some things she would never have with him. Like memories. "I used to have someone like that. He hates me now. It was nice though." She breathed in his scent, something she rarely did. He smelt like organic shampoo. How strange. She never knew he used it. Deep in her mind she wondered if Tsukika knew. "You said before that she was your reason you learned to fight. She must be something special."

"Not particularly." He was barely able to spit out without sounding like he was in pain. Blisters formed and his hands hurt like hell. "It's because there is not enough discipline that she's gone." She heard something that sounded like pain in his voice. Something that scarred him deep down, that was still fresh and would bleed profusely with so much as a touch. "And she's never coming back."

"_Kyoya-nii! Let's go play!"_

"_Leave me alone. Go play with kids your own age."_

He was undoubtedly happy when she chose him over everyone else.

"_When I'm older, let's get married!"_

"_What nonsense are you spouting?"_

He ended up agreeing, silently in his mind.

"_Kyoya-nii! I need help with my math homework! You did it last year, right?"_

"_For only the first question."_

He tutored her for a whole semester.

"_You know, you know, Kyoya-nii, this boy said he liked me today."_

"_Is that any of my business?"_

He went to her classroom the next day just to throw a punch at that boy.

"_Kyoya-nii, I don't understand why girls don't like me…"_

"_Do you think I understand?"_

He let her hold his hand until her tears ran out. And for another hour after.

"_He died. Mummy says bad drunk people did it. But I don't understand why Daddy had to die."_

"_There's nothing you can do now…"_

He held her tight and didn't let her go even after her tears stained her nightmares.

"_Kyoya-nii! What middle school are you going to?"_

"_Seito _**(1)**_ Middle."_

"_The top school in Namimori? That's amazing!"_

"_My mother just wants me to go."_

"_Well, you could get in. I could never. I'm just going to go to Namimori Middle."_

"_Try actually studying."_

He ended up applying to Namimori Middle, much to his parents chagrin.

"_I'm fine. Nothing happened. Leave me alone."_

"_Of course there's something wrong."_

"_I said to leave me alone."_

"_I won't."_

"_It's already happened! There's nothing you can do!"_

"_I wonder who stood by your side when your father died. That person wants to stay by your side."_

He would never forget that look in her eye as she turned away and ran away, one step by one leap. Cold and endless. Deep and lifeless. They buried themselves into his very soul leaving an irremovable tattoo. He remembered how his teeth clenched together, how he tasted something coppery leak into his mouth from how hard he was biting into his lip. Crescents decorated his palms and his eyes burned. Something scorched and simmered, bubbling past his throat and above his head. What was it? It hurt so fucking much but it made him want to move. To take a step forward. To get stronger. So that it wouldn't happen a second time. So that it wouldn't happen ever again.

That thing was…

Resolution.

"_Why are you are still here? You've already graduated."_

"_It's self study."_

He wished he'd told her the truth. _She was still there_.

"_I've graduated. So please go back to school."_

"_You're spouting nonsense again."_

He would never know she had known since the start.

"_Please stop getting into so many fights, Hibari-senpai. I'm going to run out of band aids."_

"_Hibari? Since when have you called me that?"_

"_Since the first time I saw your fan girls."_

"_Does that really matter to you?"_

"_It does when it looks like they'll stick tacks in my shoes any day."_

He never told her that that was the day he joined the disciplinary committee, overruling it with iron tonfa.

"_What are you doing here?"_

"_Hibari-san asked me to cook you dinner, Hibari-senpai."_

"_Kyoya."_

"_What?"_

"_It's Kyoya."_

"_I'm here to cook dinner for you, Kyoya-senpai."_

He knew from that day. He knew he would never be Kyoya-_nii_ ever again. It pierced something in his chest. She was never going to return back to him. Everything she had disappeared from her tightly coiled hands in just a few weeks. She ran away. She took off. She didn't turn back because she was scared he would disappear. There were so many aspects of her old self he saw in Emiko. The short temper, the bright eyes, the energy in her voice and the exact same smile. But to compare Tsukika's young self to someone as scarred as Emiko was impossible. They were infinitely the same but so obviously different. It was like comparing bright pink to a transparent baby one. So after waiting and waiting, Kyoya's first love slowly died.

"Is that why you're still in Nami-Middle?" Kyoya snapped back to reality, pain and her piercing voice bringing him back from his buried memories.

"What?" Kyoya couldn't help but mutter out, their previous conversation but a blur.

"Is Tachibana-san the reason you're still in Nami-Middle?"

* * *

"What's your plan, Reborn?" Laurie snapped, everything and anything was bothering her.

"You're as sharp as always." Reborn commented, clearly not put off by her tone and scrunched eye brows.

"It's obvious to someone like me." She pulled out the map from behind her, throwing at his face, the paper almost floating airily, "Given the paths and checkpoints, it's obvious we're gonna get to the final station by tomorrow." She placed her hands on her hips, her flirty, fun and dreamy attitude nothing but a wisp of air, "Furthermore, why'd you bring me here? You know how fuckin' dangerous I am."

"The ring chose you." Reborn slipped into his serious, mafia tone, despite the fact he was once again dressed in some silly cosplay outfit.

"If you want the ring then have it!" Laurie reached into her back pocket, pulling out a silver ring, slim but with a single centerpiece, "This thing has done _nothin' _for me."

"That ring is worthless without you." Reborn said pointedly, clearly seeing the hot tears caught on the corners of her eyes.

"So what? You know that Decimo could die any second with me around." She threw the ring at him, the deadly projectile caught between his two chubby fingers, "I'll do more harm than good." She turned her back on him, trying to catch any glimpses of her dignity still lingering in the air, "Decimo and his guardians… They're good kids. They're nice, warm and welcomin'…" She couldn't be seen like this. A hard and worthy Mafiosi crying because of this. "I wanna be a part of it. I wanna stand with them." She almost fell, almost collapsed from the emotions accumulating inside, "I wanna be a part of his _family_. But I'll just end up hurtin' them." She wanted to run. To the ends of the earth. To find solitude where no one could get hurt from her deadly touch. "I don't wanna hurt people like that."

"Then protect them, stupid Laurie." Reborn threw the ring at the back of her head, sharp pain racing from her head to everywhere, "You're Tsuna's Spring guardian, aren't you? Don't run away like a baby."

"I never accepted that!" Her voice hurt in her throat, "That ring chose me." It felt like she was dying, like she was drowning in a sea of something. She wasn't quite sure of what. It was between liquid and solid; it trapped her yet took away all her air. "I'd make a terrible guardian."

"Saying no is not an option, Laurie." Reborn retorted, not accepting any other answer, "Tsuna has to gather his Season guardians. You know that better than anyone."

"I… I don't wanna hurt them. I don't wanna kill them the way I killed Pavot." She didn't see anything. She didn't see Reborn walk closer. She didn't see him pick up the ring. She didn't want to see him slip the ring flawlessly onto her finger – a place it had never been before.

"Then why aren't you scared to get close to him?" Reborn asked seamlessly, his voice serious and carefree at the same time. The words stabbed her hard, pierced her heart with something long and sharp.

"That's different! He's different!" She clenched her teeth and felt something hot running down her cheek. Pitiful. What happened to that mask she placed everyday with her eyeliner and mascara? "He caught me when I was weak. Now, I can't even breathe thinkin' that I can't see him."

"You're happier now." Reborn pointed out, his voice wise and serious, "You're happier when you're surrounded by people. By him and by Tsuna's family."

"Of course I am!" She couldn't help but raise her voice. Every single layer of her mask melted away, just like it did at the end of every day. Just like when makeup remover dissolved all her eye shadow, her false image of independence slowly dripped down with every single tear. "Do ya even begin to understand how freakin' lonely I am? Every single thin' I touch could die. I can never get close to anyone because of that! I watch people drop dead right in front of my eyes just from a hand shake! How do ya expect me to not feel lonely?"

"Did you hear that, Tsuna?" Reborn lowered the rim of his hat, his eyes hidden by the shadow. With a yelp the brown haired boy sheepishly came out of hiding, inching out slowly from behind a tree, "Next time you try hiding, do it so no one knows. You're the next mafia boss, you know."

"D-Decimo…?" Laurie quickly looked away, trying to hide all tears and all hints of loneliness, "Wow, I must really be out of it if I didn't even notice you were there."

"Laurie-san, what do you mean when someone could die from just touching you?" Tsuna asked, something crossed between curiosity and worry laced into his face.

"Why are ya so worried about me? You don't even know who I am." A small tiny smile crept up to her lips, one filled with malice, one she practiced in front of the mirror a thousand times, "I could be an assassin ready to kill ya right now."

"Because if you made a single move to even touch Tsuna, not only would you be at my gunpoint but you'd miss your only chance to see that woman again." Reborn threatened, his voice dangerous, his tone serious. Wait. Hold on. Wasn't she Reborn's friend? Why was there such distrust between the two?

Something snapped. It wasn't something physical. It was something buried deep down in her heart. She shut it behind a thousand doors, a million traps and a billion locks. But with a single mention all of it flung open and created a sound almost as loud as a tree branch crushed beneath her foot. Her nails dug into her palms until they bled, her eyes filled with such rage until they were nothing but a furious red.

"Where is she?" Raw anger was simmering in her words, a layer of calm containing it, something she had trained to coat all her words with when necessary. "Even if I have ta tear down this entire forest to find her, I will. I'd even kill Decimo on the spot if that's what it takes to find her." Tsuna flinched. Was this really the Laurie he met? The Laurie who was so cheerful that she got lost? The Laurie that was so carefree that she bat away any sort of insult without even flinching? The Laurie that was so insecure about killing them because she knew she was dangerous? Who was the real Laurie? The first one who was happy? The second one who was worrisome? Or the third, so filled with anger and… regret?

"If you do that, you'll never find her." Reborn stared up at her, allowing her to stare into the dark depths of his eyes, "I'll ensure you never step within the same continent as her."

"I knew it." Laurie growled, low, oh so very low, "Are ya tryin' to bribe me with this? Is that why you called me here? That's it, ain't it?" She looked ready to claw someone's eye out, anybody's eye, "You planned ta butter me up like some stupid bimbo!" She pointed an accusing finger at him, manicured but callused, "Ya wanted me to think fer one second that I could have a family. Ya wanted to taunt me with the idea that if I went with you then I could stand a chance of finding her again." She presented her ring in front of her, almost wanting to crush it using her fingertips, "All 'cause of this stupid little ring."

"Do you think I would try to fool one of the most dangerous assassins under twenty?" His lips curled when he saw shock register in her features.

"How do you know that?"

"I always do my research."

Wait. Wait. Wait. What?

The fiery exchange was unstoppable. Words flew from lips like a machine gun on overload. To an unknowing bystander – Tsuna – everything was going in one ear, twirling around a few hundred times before exiting, leaving it all a thousand times worse. What were they going on about? A ring? And just who on earth was this woman that Laurie was so bent on murdering? Hold on! Most importantly… did Reborn just say assassin?

But the conversation continued, regardless and unhesitant.

"Whaddya want me to do anyway?" Laurie said glaring fireballs, "I'm gonna be one shitty ass guardian if I kill everyone I come into contact with."

"Simple," Reborn said almost nonchalantly, but she could tell, he was choosing his words carefully. "be Tsuna's Spring Guardian." Her look of pure ridicule at his direct contradiction of her previous response seemed to reach his eyes, "Tsuna can't be the next boss without you." A smile curled on his lips as decided to slip a few more words in, "I also promised a friend that I would give you a family."

"I dunno what kinda screwed up people you know that would even bother ta _care _about a freelance assassin like me but I'll play along with yer little family game." Laurie said seamlessly. Her mind came upon a decision that seemed overwhelmingly beneficial. She must've not looked it as she spied the slightly triumphant smirk that was placed upon Reborn's face. "One condition." She was almost overjoyed at the idea, so filled with victory, "I'll only play along 'til that woman is dead. _And_…" Reborn must have been expecting that as his smirk never disappeared, "Ya have to help me find her. After she's gone, I'll make up my mind if I really want to stay with this family."

"That's convenient." Reborn said, his smirk only growing, his plan only falling that much more into place, "She just so happens to be right at the next checkpoint." He noticed her foot move ever so slightly, a sure sign that she was about to dash away, in search for the woman she'd been chasing for years, "But since you just promised to be part of Tsuna's family for the time being you must protect him. Too bad."

On normal circumstances, her hand would've been at his throat for the ridiculous smile on his face and the idiotically silly tone in his voice. Right now, the feeling of all her hard work being paid off just saturated her being so much that nothing could ever drain her of it.

Well, except maybe one thing.

"It's okay." Tsuna didn't like that tone. He didn't like those eyes. They were so drained of life and that smile seemed so unhappy. "I've waited seven years. I can wait a mere seven hours."

* * *

The reflection must be lying.

It must be sending her lies in waves.

First, that little red spot right above her eyebrow could not possibly exist. But the slight bump on her skin was trying to prove her wrong.

Second, her thigh should not have a blossoming spot of black and purple. The sharp pain that ran up and down her leg every time weight was placed on it seemed to bring her back out of denial.

Third, there was no way that she had been walking around in ripped denim shorts that showed the whitish lines marring the skin just below her hips, right on the highest part of her thighs that shorts should cover, that she knew, but didn't show, continued further, around to her rear. But the stretch marks showed and zapped her to reality.

Fourth, if there truly was a big fat black and red spider crawling up her back and peeping over shoulder to star at her in her reflection she would be screaming. But the fact that she took one look at the arachnid, held in her scream for as long as she could – three seconds – squeezed her eyes shut to try and preserve her precious pride before letting out a blood curdling squeal of pure fear proved that these were in fact not lies.

"Aoi!"

Both boys appeared, both flustered and both clearly wondering where the fire was.

"Get it off. Please… please just get it off." Her voice was trembling and her hands shook. She hid her sharp blue eyes behind shivering fingers, just barely though. Her hands weren't even touching her face. They were shaking like she had a high fever. She knew. She knew that moving her arms too wildly could provoke the clearly poisonous creature and that was clearly what she feared the most at the moment.

"Hold on…" Yuuki said, reaching into his sleeve. He was sweating a fountain. It wasn't the fact that that spider decided to get cozy with the object of his affections. It wasn't even really the fact that she was pretty much scared to death. It was just, what if he missed? He could hit her and not that deadly eight-legged being that was causing her all kinds of terror. Why was he being so careful? He's fully trained dammit! He shouldn't miss something like-

"Are you okay?"

Yuuki snapped out of his reverie. It seemed in the moments he had panicked Takeshi grabbed a stick that looked basically like a baseball bat and technically batted the spider off of her. It had flown into the lake she had previously been using as a mirror, clearly dead and feeling rather stupid for picking on the wrong arachnophobic girl.

"Is… is it gone?" She didn't dare look to her shoulder just in case many tiny little black eyes, eight legs and two very vicious looking fangs – or teeth? She didn't care to know – would stare her in the face.

"Yup, it's gone." Takeshi said and included in his answer a hand on the shoulder that had been previously occupied by something she'd rather not see. He crouched down to her level, squatting as opposed to her sitting, and slipped two tanned arms around her shoulders.

There were words lingering on her tongue, between her lips, almost escaping to the world. There was a '_thank God'_, '_thank you_' and _'I was so scared_' meandering there but they never came out. Her pride crawled out like a prison guard and prodded them back down her throat. Instead she turned around so fast that Takeshi could barely see the tears that had been streaming down her face, buried her eye area right into the shoulder of his shirt and wrapped her arms so tightly around his neck, her hands touched her elbows.

She almost tackled him from the sheer force she hugged him with. Either his balance sucked or she had the strength of a man as she knocked him over, his butt now currently ungracefully on the wildlife's floor. Noticing the now awkward positioning of his hands he allowed them to migrate to her waist. He ran his hands up and down her back, warmth generating and the pressure dissolving any form of ticklish nerves.

"Was it scary?" He asked almost childishly. Was he asking like a father would a daughter? Was he asking like a young child to another?

She didn't answer but tightened her arms around him. She knew if any words came out of her mouth now they would make her pride crumble and she valued her pride more than most things, so she just kept quiet and savored their proximity.

He knew she probably didn't want to move from their current position, he knew she needed the warmth of another person, but he also knew they couldn't stay here for long or his legs would cramp – most of her weight was focused on him – and that would be one awkward situation. So, he compromised. Shifting his legs to balance her weight he stood up. Consequently taking her up with him. He kept his arms tight around her waist, allowing her feet to rise above the ground the extra 10 centimeters that he owned. It wasn't really a biggy. He had to lift muscular baseball players that were about 70 kilograms when they had training. Someone like Aoi? Not much of an issue.

"What're you doing?" She couldn't help but notice his arms were her only support. No ground and gravity doesn't like objects floating in the air. Her voice, surprisingly, came out somewhat normal, quieter but normal. No tears. No shaking.

"Instinct?" Well, it kind of was. Other than his legs cramping, he hadn't really thought very far.

"Stupid." She reprimanded. Not really. She was glad he was stupid enough to not realise that the partial reason she was quick to hug him was so that he wouldn't see that stupid pimple that left her smooth face like the, in her opinion, surface of the moon.

"So…" He couldn't help but ask. It was just itching to come out of his throat. "Spiders…?"

"Shut up." She said sharply. He'd expected it.

"C'mon, Aoi. You can lift your head." He said, wondering just when his shoulder would fall asleep. He liked her head there but it would be very embarrassing if his shoulder did decide to take a nap and he ended up dropping her.

"No." She knew she shouldn't be pressing her face so harshly into his shirt so she lifted the pressure slightly only to move so that her cheek rested his shoulder and her face turned _away _from him. He didn't know if to be offended. So he voiced it.

"Don't you want to look at me?" He said it all innocence intended. No hints of romance indicated and she knew. She wished she didn't. "Or do I have something funny on my face?"

"None of the above." She said coldly. "I just don't want you to see my face." And that was the truth. There was no chance she was letting him see her tear stained cheeks nor the crater, these self-insults seemed to be getting worse, that ruined her lightly tanned skin.

"Why?"

"It looks really stupid so don't look."

She had no idea how she was going to face him for the rest of the night. She had no idea how she was going to crawl out of his arms and make sure he couldn't see her before she washed the tears away and covered that volcano, definitely getting worse, with some cover up. There was no way she would allow him to see them. She barely ever got pimples, she got slight bumps on her forehead but that was all. The lack of exposure to the blemishes on her face, she personally thought, emphasized the redness and mountainous terrain of her skin. And for pride's sake, she couldn't let anyone see her crying over something a hundredth of her size.

"And when you put me down you have to close your eyes." She almost commanded. If he did, it solved almost all her problems.

"Why?"

"Because there are things I don't want you to see."

Ouch. That hurt. A lot. She honestly didn't understand the sheer pain that her words brought but regardless this was much more important.

She wouldn't let him see the bruise that developed on her leg. She knew he would worry. He's just like that. Sometimes overly careless but usually overly protective of his friends. She'd probably pulled something but it wasn't like she was going to show it. She wanted to get mad and she most likely would but for now she just wanted to hide it. She couldn't show that she was so weak as to complain obsessively over a pulled muscle. He might even blame himself for convincing her to come. That one she wasn't overly sure but it was in the range of possibilities.

And she was definitely _never _going to show him those lines that stretched across her skin. No one was ever going to see them. It was a shameful part of her life and she never wished to look upon it again. Actually, everything to do with that period of her life she'd rather not think about. Every time she did it was like every form of light disappeared, even the moon that borrowed its radiance would disappear. Everything would vanish and she would swirl downwards. Maybe not even swirling. Maybe it was just a slow fall, bringing her closer and closer to the darkness that she truly feared.

"Can we stay like this for a while?"

And like a puppy, his tail almost began wagging, "Sure."

* * *

He was forgotten. He knew.

He didn't like it.

He wanted to hold her.

He wanted to be the one to wrap his arms around her.

What was he doing? Why did he wait? Why did he doubt his skills when he had full confidence when it came to an enemy? Was it because even if he missed the heart he might end up leaving a bullet wound in their lung or stomach?

It was times like this that Yuuki hated his brother. Oh. No. He _always_ hated his brother. That man was the epitome of everything he hates. It was because of him he couldn't waltz up to her, take her by the hand and kiss her senseless. Not that he ever managed to lay his lips of her's but he was so close before. He was so far right now. It was his brother that stopped him from continually being close. It was his brother that stopped him from going to her and whispering in her ear the way he used to.

It was his brother that stopped him from telling her the truth.

* * *

"Who is this?"

He held an old photograph. A boy that looked about their age but from the creases and loss of colour in the photo he was most likely a couple years older now. He was handsome. To say the least. He wasn't the kind of good looking that Kyoya was. He wasn't sexy or attractive in a way that made girls want to rip his shirt off. He was handsome in a different way. The kind that one would expect their ideal father to be in his younger days. Soft features but a strong jaw. Kind eyes and wispy hair.

"Umm…" Emiko struggled to put it into the right words, "He's an old friend. A very old friend. He probably doesn't even remember me anymore." She scratched the back of her head, trying to shrug it off but secretly wondered how Kyoya managed to get the photo out of her wallet.

"Then why is his photo permanently in your wallet?" So he knew. Great. Why does he bother asking when he knew?

"Why did you take it out?" Once again she reenacted their questions that were only answered with questions. It wasn't very tactful but it happened.

"I didn't. It fell."

"How could it fall? I make sure it's in my zipped… up… compartment…"

Oh shit. She just drove herself into a hole. Good job, Emiko. She almost wanted to run into a wall.

"He's… really an old friend. Really." It was the truth. But not all of it. "And it's true that he's probably forgotten me." She stared at the rip that decorated the side of the photo. She almost wanted to laugh when she remembered the second person in the picture. "Either that or he hates me."

Without a word or sound, completely Kyoya-like, he snatched her wrist, dragging her through the wilderness. He didn't feel like prying or talking. Whoever this guy was he was number one on his "to-bite-to-death" list. Well, maybe after that bastard Mukuro. Anyone that could make Emiko make that expression deserved a full out throttling. It was that look of loss that she only presented when she thought no one was looking. When she took out her wallet and took out that precise picture. It was so obvious. A person had to be blind and retarded to not decipher that particular arrangement of her features.

She was in love.

She _was _in love. And it didn't end well.

And it was obvious that the other person didn't reciprocate and perhaps even found her more than platonic feelings a nuisance. It was obvious he did not acknowledge her feelings with kindness. It was obvious she had been let down in the worst way possible. It was obvious her heart, at least half of it, was still lingering on him. And it was obvious that Kyoya hated that. He didn't particularly hate the fact she had been hurt. He knew, and had seen, something else had hurt her deeply. Much deeper than a stupid love. Something so deep it made her want to end her own life. He hated that there was something of her's that didn't belong to him and worse yet, it belonged to someone else. Some undeserving herbivore.

"K-Kyoya! Where are we going?" She almost demanded. This sudden mood change was very strange. First he was curious but right now he had something that resembled resolve in his eyes.

"Sit." It wasn't really like she had a choice.

She was still disorientated until a strong wisp of wind flew past her, through her. One glance and she noticed the sheer serenity of the paddock Kyoya managed to bring her to. The grass was dewy and the wind was strong. Just the way she loved it. She loved the slight moisture against her crossed legs and she loved the blowing that whipped her hair around her face. Just the feeling of her bangs brushing against her forehead and eyes brought her back years upon years.

It reminded her of that particular white balcony that always caught the strongest winds. Whenever she would stand there, her tight blonde curls would fly around her face and the wind would sting her amber eyes ever so slightly. Up until she was three, two faceless adults that she _knew _were her parents clasped her hands tightly, right before one of them would lift her up, the gusts much stronger. Up until she was seven her grandfather's rough hand would lead her down from the balcony, down to the garden where the grass was green and the roses were bountiful. Up until she was twelve a familiar boy would place his hand on her head, ruffle her long yellow locks before twirling her around, the wind playing music in their ears.

Since then, she hasn't seen, not even glimpsed, that particular balcony that held some of her happiest memories. Maybe part of her never wanted to return. Perhaps 'happiest memories' was the wrong statement. She may have been happy, but she could never return to those feelings. Those people don't care. Not anymore. Perhaps they never did. She wouldn't know. She thought she'd always be the happy princess she was raised to be. How different it was now.

"Kyoya…" She glanced at her partner whose ivory skin was almost glowing, "I…"

"I knew you'd like it here." He said simply, he leaned back to rest his weight on his hands, placed lazily behind him. He almost glared at the moon. Personally, he always thought that rock was beyond weak, needing something else to give it light.

"Thank you." Was there really a need for words? She just smiled. And Kyoya knew that smile. It was the one that only appeared on the very few occasions her problems dissolved inside her mind and she _happy_.

She studied every feature, noting how beautiful he was. It was like he came out of a painting, a painting of one of those magnificent lords that almost every lady would love to have the pleasure of even gazing upon. It was true that normally his face held a certain scowl or smirk that made girls swoon, that made them want to drool from the sexiness that oozed off him. But it was moments where his eyes relaxed and his lips were slightly parted that he was elegant and description was beyond all words.

He turned his head to her, not bothered by her stare. His eyes were intense and she noticed the slightest hue of blue that was mixed in the dark grey. Just the look in his eyes, just the close proximity of their lips, just the gravitation of eye contact that pulled them closer made her remember… It was enough to make her think back to Lal's words.

"_Love will create the greatest pains you will ever experience."_

She'd ignored it the first time. She'd feigned ignorance and paid the price. It felt like getting stabbed by a thousand of her own needles. In her head, down her throat, through each lung and finally right through her beating heart. She wanted to end it all. Every movement hurt. Every amount of pain increased tenfold. Darkness sounded so much more welcoming than living through every fucking millisecond.

"_Why would you do that? If you love them then you wouldn't want to ruin the life they lived in. If you hate them you wouldn't want to give them the satisfaction that they broke you."_

Emiko could clearly remember the warmth of that day. She could clearly remember how everything black and white turned a cool shade of blue and then a warm shade of burgundy. Her colorless world began to fill in the colours. The warmest pair of arms wrapped themselves around her and asked the most simple of questions.

"_It doesn't hurt so much now, right?"_

It hadn't. And slowly the pain began to evaporate but always stayed at the back of her mind. In the deepest darkest hole in her head. The part that would never be touched until everything returned back to grayscale. But sometimes she could even block out that part. All it took was an aloof raven haired individual. She knew the sensation. She knew it very well. She knew she was falling. It was like watching a car crash in slow motion. She knew the inevitable. She could stop it but what was the chance of not killing more if she tried to disrupt fate? She wanted to stop, to stomp on the brakes.

She vowed to never fall in love again. Her aunt was right. Love hurt so much so she didn't want to ever experience it again. But for some reason this one didn't. Momentarily, he could make everything _not hurt_. But then again, the impending doom that loomed over her head made it all begin to dim in colour; everything would become slightly less vibrant.

But their lips locked anyway.

There was a way to stop it but she didn't. She even reciprocated because she wanted it. She wanted it so bad. She wanted to lie in comfort, to lie in his arms forever. The chunk of her heart that had been mutilated before almost felt like it was healing when she felt their tongues dancing. She noticed how his eyes were fully closed yet her's were only half way there. She loved the way his eye lashes glistened as if they had caught snowflakes.

It was ten heart stopping seconds. It was only ten but it felt like twenty. He gave one last push against her lips before backing away less than a millimeter away. He saw the slightly dazed look in her eyes, noting that even if it wasn't her first it was definitely her first one like _that_. He saw the wind blowing her hair across her face, her brown hair stark against her pure alabaster skin.

"I'll take you on my motorbike when we get back." He knew she would love it. The wind that flew by when he rode was the exact type of wind she adored.

"Kyoya…" She breathed lightly, it was only light but he felt it reach the back of his throat, "I'm actually not afraid of heights, I'm afraid of the fall." She wanted to move away but the way they were looking into each other's eyes kept her glued, "I've fallen so many times…" She wondered if the tear that just dripped down made contact with his skin, "So please…"

She was pleading.

She was so desperate her stomach did somersaults.

"Please don't make me fall if you won't catch me."

He kissed her again.

* * *

_Tick…_

_Tick…_

_Tick…_

Every second passed by, with it the melody. She stared at the clock face, secretly hating it. It was so sad. But she would stare at the pocket watch the whole night because she needed all the resolve she could get. She remembered every feature on his face. Teal eyes exactly the same as her's. Red hair that starkly contrasted her dark green. A sharp nose, true to his western descent. Round eyes that had a certain sharpness to them. Long dark eye lashes that even she envied. It was the most painful feeling to remember him but she did. Remembering that his death was her fault. Remembering it was that woman's fault that Laurie got the chance to end his life.

"Why…?"

Her voice was raspy. She knew it. She could hear the tears in her voice and watched them fall down.

"Why did you abandon both of us?"

She squeezed the watch so tight she almost thought the glass would crack.

"Why not… just him?"

Endless questions swirled and she knew she would never get the answer. She didn't know if she would even give that wretched woman a chance to breathe before the strongest poison on the planet was flowing through her veins. What she did know if that no one would ever want to come close to her after the murder she going to commit. And she knew one person, that most definitely would.

"_Why are you out in the rain like this?"_

Blond hair and a pink umbrella. It was kind of strange for a boy his age but the look in his eye told her he was different.

"_This kind of break is common. I'll have it fixed by tomorrow so just sleep."_

She was sitting in borrowed clothes; an emotionless look in her eyes as she showed him the watch's whose time was stuck at 1:23, the melody unmoving. True to his word, the clock was set to the correct time, ticking by with music. She could hardly believe he was only one year younger than her.

"_They're actually basically giant balls of fire but if you want to look into the superstitious side of them…"_

He handed her a book and from the look in his eye couldn't believe the pure interest she had. Horoscopes, legends, anything and everything were piled into those pages and she couldn't help but hug him tight. After a few days she told him the story of why she was so interested in 'giant balls of fire'. She knew he thought it was stupid and unscientific but he still followed her every night to stargaze.

"_Isn't that a bit dangerous?"_

She'd made up her mind to choose this particular path. She didn't necessarily want to but it was what she had been raised to do. Everything she had previously lived for was leading up to this path. That and taking this up meant she could travel. It meant she might stumble upon that woman. She'd probably been forgotten by her but she didn't care, she would slice that woman's head off. He wasn't particularly happy with her decision but made sure to patch her up afterwards and stuff a strawberry, her favourite, flavored lollipop in her mouth.

"_Do you really need to? Isn't it enough here?"_

She'd opened her mouth and told him everything, finally. But he didn't want her to go too far. He didn't want her to go so far that she was unreachable. He didn't want her come back, different and unchangeable. It could possibly have been one of things he feared most. She saw the underlying thought of betrayal in his usually lazy eyes but ignored it. She told him that he was _almost everything_ she needed. _Almost everything_.

"_I won't forgive you if you actually go through with this."_

"I'm sorry…"

She clenched the pocket watch even tighter, curling into a ball.

"I'm so, so sorry…"

And she truly was.

She didn't want to lose him.

Ever.

* * *

Okay you all hate me. I haven't updated in forever and a few hundred years. But at least this chapter is mega long right? I was thinking of splitting it up into two chapters but since I wrote it all in one shot then it might not flow. Keep in mind my next chapters will most likely be shorter than this one. Tell me if you want me to split this in two though

Okay, mostly a Laurie chapter. Well, I tried to make it like that anyway. You guys can probably guess the guy in the last bit. I think I made it too obvious Tell me what you think

Before any of you tell me that Aoi had way, way more coverage in the story I'm going to say this story was originally only for her. A lot of the OCs will be secondhand thoughts. So she may get a little bit more stuff but I'm trying to make it equal. By the way, her last scene is kind of cliché to me. So I tried to make it less cliché by making her normal and giving her something that probably makes you guys go, hmm…. Haha. Well, speak to me because I won't know unless you ask

Emiko got her kiss! I never really planned out major things like kisses. It was a spontaneous decision that occurs when I run out of gas. It's not that I was saving it but I didn't expect it to appear so soon. I felt her and Kyoya were getting too angsty and Kyoya was getting too nosy so a nice little romancey bit was nice. They are one of the more developed relationships so I decided it was just about time. But this pairing is just like pure issues and impossible to have pure fluff so there is a bit of funky stuff in there.

Hope you enjoyed it

Review please! 3

**(1)**: Made this up. I just thought it sounded cool and Japanesey it could totally just be the name of founder.


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